Facile synthesis of Pr-doped ZnO photocatalyst using sol-gel method and its visible light photocatalytic activity

In the present research, pristine ZnO and praseodymium (Pr)-doped ZnO (Pr0.02Zn0.98O,Pr0.04Zn0.96O) nanoparticles were synthesized using sol-gel method for photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye under visible light illumination. The structure of the designed nanoparticles was shown by XRD to be hexagonal wurtzite structure with no spurious peaks. The EDS was used to authenticate the existence of dopant with elemental composition. Enhanced optical absorption in the visible region was observed by DRS study. The photocatalytic test revealed that Pr0.04Zn0.96O demonstrated the excellent photocatalytic performance for MO degradation under visible light illumination. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under visible light illumination verified the increased photocatalytic activity of Pr0.04Zn0.96O photocatalyst. These results identify that introduction of Pr-doped ZnO nanoparticles enhanced the visible light active degradation activity due to inhibition of electron-hole recombination, thereby enhancing the optical response of ZnO to visible region.