Photocatalytic removal of methylene blue and Victoria blue R dyes using Tb and La-doped BaZnO2

Abstract

The synthesis of BaxM1-xZnO2 nanoparticles (NPs), where M represents La and Tb was achieved using sol-gel technique. This method involved the simultaneous substitution of a single ion. The structural, dielectric properties, morphology, elemental analysis, photo-catalysis and distribution size of the produced nano-crystalline material were assessed. The examination utilizes X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dielectric measurement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The XRD pattern verifies that all the nanoparticles synthesized possess hexagonal structure and have effectively replaced various metal ions within the standard crystal structure of BaZnO2. The lattice parameters, X-ray density, bulk density, porosity, and grain size were determined using the XRD pattern of BaxM1-xZnO2(M = La, Tb). The catalyst was proved to be good photocatalyst for VBR as it degraded it up to 90% in 20 minutes under UV light and for MB up to 80% within 60 min under UV and 120 min under sunlight. The photocatalytic activity (PCA) against methylene blue and Victoria blue R have conclusively shown that the entire sample displayed exceptional degradation under UV and sunlight.