High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis.
Ce-doped ZnO (ZnO:Ce) nanorods have been prepared through a solvothermal method and the effects of Ce-doping on the structural, optical and electronic properties of ZnO rods were studied. ZnO:Ce rods were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, BET, DRS and Raman spectroscopy. 5% Ce-doped ZnO rods with an average length of 130 nm and a diameter of 23 nm exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of the Orange II dye under solar light irradiation. The high photocatalytic activity is ascribed to the substantially enhanced light absorption in the visible region, to the high surface area of ZnO:Ce rods and to the effective electron-hole pair separation originating from Ce doping. The influence of various experimental parameters like the pH, the presence of salts and of organic compounds was investigated and no marked detrimental effect on the photocatalytic activity was observed. Finally, recyclability experiments demonstrate that ZnO:Ce rods are a stable solar-light photocatalyst.
Unité de Recherche Synthèse et Structure de Nanomatériaux UR 11 ES 30. Université de Carthage, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, 7021 Jarzouna, Bizerte, Tunisia.
Bilel
B
Chouchene
Unité de Recherche Synthèse et Structure de Nanomatériaux UR 11 ES 30. Université de Carthage, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, 7021 Jarzouna, Bizerte, Tunisia.
Tahar
T
Ben Chaabane
Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse (IS2M), CNRS, UMR 7361, 15 rue Jean Starcky, 68093 Mulhouse, France.
Lavinia
L
Balan
Université de Lorraine, Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés (LRGP), UMR 7274, CNRS, 1 rue Grandville, BP 20451, 54001 Nancy Cedex, France.
Emilien
E
Girot
Université de Lorraine, Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés (LRGP), UMR 7274, CNRS, 1 rue Grandville, BP 20451, 54001 Nancy Cedex, France.
Kevin
K
Mozet
Institut Jean Lamour (IJL), Université de Lorraine, CNRS, UMR 7198, CNRS, BP 70239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy Cedex, France.
Ghouti
G
Medjahdi
Université de Lorraine, Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés (LRGP), UMR 7274, CNRS, 1 rue Grandville, BP 20451, 54001 Nancy Cedex, France.
Raphaël
R
Schneider
Ce doping; ZnO rods; photocatalysis; solvothermal synthesis