STUDY ON THE SYNTHESIS AND PHOTOCATALYTIC PROPERTIES OF Nd-DOPED ZnO MICROPARTICLES
Keywords:
zinc oxide, Nd-doping, photocatalysis, Rhodamine B
Abstract
The photocatalytic performance of ZnO with a porous particulate morphology was effectively enhanced via doping with the rare earth element neodymium (Nd) under optimized synthesis conditions. Doping precursor Nd(NO3)3·6H2O was introduced to fabricate a series of Nd/ZnO composites with varied Nd doping concentrations. Structural characterization confirmed that Nd was successfully incorporated into the ZnO lattice and was present in the Nd3+ valence state. Nd doping was found to efficiently inhibit the grain growth of ZnO, resulting in the formation of porous particles with smaller and more uniform sizes. During the photocatalytic process, the valence state of Nd ions in the composites was reversible between +3 and +2, which enabled the effective trapping of electrons in the conduction band, and reduced the spontaneous recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, thus significantly improving the photocatalytic performance of the material. The degradation rate of the optimal Nd-doped sample was 2.7 times that of pristine ZnO.
References
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[2] WEN J Q, HAN Y S, YANG X, et al. Computational research of electronic, optical and magnetic properties of Ce and Nd co-doped ZnO [J]. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 2019, 125: 90-95.
[3] X YU, X M YU, ZHANG J J, et al. Light-trapping Al-doped ZnO thin films for organic solar cells [J]. Solar Energy, 2017, 153: 96-103.
[4] WEN J Q, ZHANG J M, CHEN G X, et al. The structural, electronic and optical properties of Nd doped ZnO using first-principles calculations [J]. Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures, 2018, 98: 168-173.
[5] HU Y H, ZENG H B, DU J F, et al. The structural, electrical and optical properties of Mg-doped ZnO with different interstitial Mg concentration [J]. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 2016, 182:15-21.
[6] SHIRZAD-SIBONI M, JONIDI-JAFARI A, FARZADKIA M, et al. Enhancement of photocatalytic performance of Cu-doped ZnO nanorods for the degradation of an insecticide: Kinetics and reaction pathways [J]. Journal of Environmental Management, 2017, 186: 1-11.
[7] FAN F Y, ZHANG J J, LI J, et al. Hydrogen sensing properties of Pt-Au bimetallic nanoparticles loaded on ZnO nanorods [J]. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 2017, 241: 895-903.
[8] CHEN H, MA S Y, JIAO H Y, et al. The effect microstructure on the gas properties of Ag doped zinc oxide sensors: Spheres and sea-urchin-like nanostructures [J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2016, 687: 342-351.
[9] SUI Y R, YUE Y G, SONG Y P, et al. Cd composition induced effects on structure, optical and electrical properties of sputtered Zn1-xCdxO films [J]. Ceramics International, 2015, 41: 5414-5420.
[10] PAN H, YI J B, SHEN L, et al. Room-temperature ferromagnetism in carbon-doped ZnO [J]. Physical Review Letters, 2007, 99:127201-127210.
[11] YE X J, SONG H A, ZHONG W, et al. The effect of nitrogen incorporation on the magnetic properties of carbondoped ZnO [J]. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2008, 41: 155005-155011.
[12] HUANG J, HU Y, MA Y C, et al. B-doping and annealing on the properties of B and Ga co-doped ZnO films [J]. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2019, 358: 223-227.
[13] HASTIR A, KOHLI N, SINGH R C. Comparative study on gas sensing properties of rare earth (Tb, Dy and Er) doped ZnO sensor [J]. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 2017, 105: 23-34.
[14] ZHANG M, ZHANG H Y, LI L, et al. Er-enhanced humidity sensing performance in black ZnO-based sensor [J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2018, 744: 364-369.
[15] ALAM U, KHAN A, ALI D, et al. Comparative photocatalytic activity of sol–gel derived rare earth metal (La, Nd, Sm and Dy)-doped ZnO photocatalysts for degradation of dyes [J]. RSC Advances, 2018, 8: 17582-17594.
[16] SELVAM N C S, VIJAYA J J, KENNEDY L J, et al. Comparative studies on influence of morphology and La doping on structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of zinc oxide nanostructures [J]. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2013, 407: 215-224.
[17] OKTE A N. Characterization and photocatalytic activity of Ln (La, Eu, Gd, Dy and Ho) loaded ZnO nanocatalysts [J]. Applied Catalysis A: General, 2014, 475: 27-39.
[18] KHATAMIAN M, KHANDAR A A, DIVBAND B, et al. Heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol in aqueous suspension by Ln (La3+, Nd3+or Sm3+) doped ZnO nanoparticles [J]. Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 2012, 365: 120-127.
[19] Shu Cui, Haixin Zhao, Chengyou Liu, Hai Yu, Nan Li, Xiaotian Li. SYNTHESIS OF MORPHOLOGY-CONTROLLED ZnO NANOSTRUCTURES AND EVALUATION OF THEIR PHOTOCATALYTIC AND GAS-SENSING PROPERTIES[J]. Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology, 2025,59 (5) : 35-43.
[20] ANANDAN S, VINU A, MORI T, et al. Photocatalytic degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol using lanthanum doped ZnO in aqueous suspension [J]. Catalysis Communications, 2007, 8: 1377-1382.
[21] JOHN R, RAJAKUMARI R. Synthesis and characterization of rare earth ion doped nano ZnO [J]. Nano-Micro Letters, 2012, 4: 65-72.
[22] YANG J H, WANG J, LI X Y, et al. Synthesis of urchin-like Fe3O4@SiO2@ZnO/CdS core–shell microspheres for the repeated photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B under visible light [J]. Catalysis Science & Technology, 2016, 6: 4525-4534.
[23] LIU T Y, CHEN W, HUA Y X, et al. Au/ZnO nanoarchitectures with Au as both supporter and antenna of visible-light [J]. Applied Surface Science, 2017, 392: 616-623.
[24] ANSARI S A, KHAN M M, LEE J, et al. Highly visible light active Ag@ZnO nanocomposites synthesized by gel-combustion route [J]. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 2014, 20:1602-1607.
[25] HAN Z Z, WEI L Y, ZHANG Z K, et al. Visible-light photocatalytic application of hierarchical Au-ZnO flower-rod heterostructures via surface plasmon resonance [J]. Plasmonics, 2013, 8: 1193-1202.
[26] ZHANG J, DENG S J, LIU S Y, et al. Preparation and photocatalytic activity of Nd doped ZnO nanoparticles [J]. Materials Technology: Advanced Performance Materials, 2014, 29: 262-268.
[27] ZHANG Y Q, LIU Y Y, ZHOU L S, et al. The role of Ce doping in enhancing sensing performance of ZnO-based gassensor by adjusting the proportion of oxygen species [J]. Sensors & Actuators: B. Chemical, 2018, 273: 991-998.
[28] MOHAMMAD R A, ALSHAMMARI A S, JAYAWARDENA K D G I, et al. Role of the Exposed Polar Facets in the Performance of Thermally and UV Activated ZnO Nanostructured Gas Sensors [J]. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2013, 117: 17850-17858.
[29] VASANTHKUMAR K, PORKODI K, ROCHA F. Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetics-A theoretical study [J]. Catalysis Communications, 2008, 9 (1): 82-84.
[30] WANG L, JI Z Y, LIN J J, et al. Preparation and optical and photocatalytic properties of Ce-doped ZnO microstructures by simple solution method [J]. Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, 2017, 71: 401-408.
[31] WANG J, YANG J H, LI X Y, et al. Synthesis of Fe3O4@SiO2@ZnO-Ag core-shell microspheres for the repeated photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B under UV irradiation [J]. Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 2015, 406: 97-105.
[32] SIN J C, LAM S M, LEE K T, et al. Preparation of rare earth-doped ZnO hierarchical micro/nanospheres and their enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation [J]. Ceramics International, 2014, 40: 5431-5440.
[33] YAYAPAO O, THONGTEM T, PHURUANGRAT A, et al. Ultrasonic-assisted synthesis of Nd-doped ZnO for photocatalysis [J]. Materials Letters, 2013, 90: 83-86.
Published
2026-07-22
How to Cite
1.
Cui S, Zhao H, Li N, Li X. STUDY ON THE SYNTHESIS AND PHOTOCATALYTIC PROPERTIES OF Nd-DOPED ZnO MICROPARTICLES. MatTech [Internet]. 2026Jul.22 [cited 2026Oct.11];60(4):521–529. Available from: https://mater-tehnol.si/index.php/MatTech/article/view/1678
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