Ga-doped ZnO nanorods: The photocatalytic performance of methylene blue under solar irradiation

• Published in: Optical materials 2022-04, Vol.126, p.112139, Article 112139
• Main Authors: Al Ghafry, Sulaiman S.A., Al-Abri, Mohammed Z., Al Farsi, Basim, Al Marzouqi, Faisal, Al Farsi, Lamia M., Roslan, Nur Adilah, Supangat, Azzuliani
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Doping; Gallium; Nanorods; Photocatalysis; Zinc oxide
• ISSN: 0925-3467; 1873-1252
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2022.112139

Access to clean water is one of the fundamental needs in our rapid lifestyle; a large amount of water pollution recently threatens this right. These contaminants have highlighted as a challenge to the conventional wastewater treatment process. In this article, a rapid microwave-assisted method has used to synthesize pristine and gallium-doped ZnO nanorods on the glass substrate. Different levels of doping (0.5%, 1%, 3% and 5% Ga) have been investigated. Results show that the morphological properties of nanorods change significantly with Ga doping from 0.5% to 5%. Comparably, the crystalline size and surface roughness are also Ga content dependent. The existence of Ga in the ZnO lattice confirms the effective Ga-doping of ZnO NRs. The 1% Ga doping sample shows significant enhancement in visible light absorption, the recombination of photo generated charge carriers, and rapid degradation at more than 80% within 60 min compared to the pristine sample. [Display omitted] •Ga-doped ZnO nanorods have been successfully fabricated via microwave-assisted method.•High photocatalytic performance of Ga-doped ZnO nanorods has been observed from the 1% gallium doping.•Rapid methylene blue degradation efficiency at more than 80% within 60 min.