Synthesis, Characterization and Band Gap Tuning of Neodymium (1-4%) Doped Zinc Oxide Catalyst and its Application for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Coomassive Violet R200 Dye in Aqueous Solution

Hydrothermally synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were doped with varying concentration (1-4%) of neodymium. Nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Band gap tuning was observed with the addition of the dopant. With the addition of 4% Nd the band gap reduced to 3.00eV.The XRD study showed hexagonal structure of the synthesized material while SEM study revealed that the doping substantially affect he morphology of the nanoparticles. FTIR study showed the successful doping of the nanoparticles with Nd. The catalytic activity of the synthesized nanomaterials was evaluated while applying them for the degradation of Coomassie violet R200 dye under sun light and UV radiation. Effect of various parameters’s like time, concentration, dosage rate and pH was also studied on the photodegradation. At 200 minutes time duration 94% of the dye was degraded using Nd-doped ZnO nanoparticles while the degradation was only 84% with bare ZnO nanoparticles. Low concentration of the dye (10ppm), a catalyst dose of 0.0075g and high pH of the medium enhanced the degradation process. Best performance of the catalyst was achieved under sunlight illumination.