Exploration of Pristine ZnO and Cobalt Doped ZnO for the Solar Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye

Abstract

The ZnO and Co-doped ZnO were prepared by eco-friendly and modest route, including thermal disintegration of zinc oxalate (ZnOx) and cobalt-zinc oxalate (CoZnOx) powders, respectively, from a mechano-chemical method. The process of conversion of metal/s oxalate dihydrate to the pristine ZnO and cobalt-doped ZnO was studied with TG-DTG and FTIR spectroscopy. ZnO and Co-doped ZnO crystallites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), UV–visible and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. Hexagonal Wurtzite crystallite structures of the aforementioned materials were illustrated from XRD data. The surface morphological investigation was done with SEM. EDX study confirms the elemental purity of materials. Chemical bonding information was obtained from FTIR spectra. Optical properties were studied from UV-visible and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Exploration of pristine ZnO and cobalt-doped ZnO for the solar photocatalytic degradation (PCD) of methylene blue dye has been done in a batch photoreactor. The various related parameters such as photocatalyst amount, initial concentration of dye and pH were also examined for maximum degradation efficiency for mentioned dye.