Open AccessFacile Fabrication of a ZnO/Eu2O3/NiO-Based Ternary Heterostructure Nanophotocatalyst and Its Application for the Degradation of Methylene Blue
Author(s) -
J.P. Shubha,
Syed Farooq Adil,
M. Iqbal Khan,
Mohammad Rafe Hatshan,
Aslam Khan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acs omega
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 40
ISSN - 2470-1343
DOI - 10.1021/acsomega.0c05670
Subject(s) - non blocking i/o , materials science , ternary operation , photocatalysis , photodegradation , heterojunction , visible spectrum , methylene blue , nanocomposite , catalysis , chemical engineering , degradation (telecommunications) , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , nuclear chemistry , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , chemistry , organic chemistry , telecommunications , computer science , engineering , programming language
The ZnO-based ternary heterostructure ZnO/Eu 2 O 3 /NiO nanoparticles are synthesized using waste curd as fuel by a simple one-pot combustion method. The as-synthesized heterostructure is characterized by using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques including X-ray diffraction, UV-vis, FTIR, SEM, and TEM analyses. The photocatalytic activity of the ternary nanocomposite was tested for the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under solar light irradiation. The results have revealed that the ternary ZnO/Eu 2 O 3 /NiO photocatalyst exhibits excellent performance toward the photocatalytic degradation of the studied dye. Optimization studies revealed that the synthesized heterostructure exhibited a pH-dependent photocatalytic activity, and better results are obtained for specific concentrations of dye and catalysts. Among the different light sources employed during the study, the catalyst was found to possess the best degradation efficiency in visible light.