A facile method for synthesis of N-doped ZnO mesoporous nanospheres and enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

A facile synthesis route is reported for preparation of N-doped mesoporous ZnO nanospheres by a solvothermal treatment of Zn(NO3)2·6H2O which provides a source of both zinc and nitrogen. A variety of different spectroscopic and analytical techniques, such as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopies were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of catalysts. The photocatalytic activities of the composites were evaluated by the degree of degradation of rhodamine B in aqueous solutions at room temperature with near-UV light irradiation. These nanocomposites exhibit higher photocatalytic activity compared with pure ZnO nanoparticles. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity of N-doped ZnO nanoparticles is mainly attributed to their absorption of more photons and reduced electron-hole pair recombination. Our one-step, environmentally friendly synthetic method may provide a new means of designing and synthesizing series of N-doped metal oxide semiconductors for use in photo-assisted catalytic reactions.

New insight into the enhanced photocatalytic activity of N-, C- and S-doped ZnO photocatalysts

“…In contrast, metal doping is more likely to induce the formation of vacancies or defect states that can serve as the recombination center for photogenerated electrons and holes. Compared with other nonmetal dopants, nitrogen [41][42][43][44][45][46], carbon [47][48][49][50][51] and sulfur [52][53][54] have been more extensively studied in recent years. Doping ZnO with these nonmetal elements has shown to be promising approaches to narrow the band gap and thus induce stronger visible-light absorption.…”

Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Tests of N-Doped Zinc Oxide: A New Interesting Photocatalyst

“…So far, N impurities in ZnO were obtained by direct synthesis via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods in N 2 O or NH 3 atmosphere [22], by mechanochemical methods [23,24] or by postsynthesis treatments with NH 3 at high 2 Journal of Nanomaterials temperature [25][26][27]. N-doped ZnO has been proved to be a good photocatalyst in water oxidation [28] and in the degradation of rhodamine B [29].…”

The interplay between morphology and photocatalytic activity in ZnO and N-doped ZnO crystals

“…N could be used to obtain a stable p-type N-doped ZnO (ZnO:N) semiconductor structure [29][30][31], resulting in the improvement of photocatalytic activity [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Theoretical calculations point out that N is the best superficial acceptor candidate for ZnO [42] while Amiri et al [43] have analyzed the possible source of ferromagnetism in ZnO:N compounds by using ab-initio calculations.…”