Laser-assisted for preparation ZnO/CdO thin film prepared by pulsed laser deposition for catalytic degradation

• Published in: Radiation physics and chemistry (Oxford, England : 1993) England : 1993), 2020-11, Vol.176, p.109020, Article 109020
• Main Authors: Mostafa, Ayman M., Menazea, A.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 4-Nitrophenol; Ablation; Cadmium; Catalytic activity; CdO; Composite structures; Degradation; Laser ablation; Laser-assisted; Lasers; Metal oxides; Morphology; Neodymium lasers; Nitrophenol; PLD; Pulsed laser deposition; Pulsed lasers; Reflectance; Semiconductor lasers; Thin film; Thin films; YAG lasers; Zinc oxide; ZnO
• ISSN: 0969-806X; 1879-0895
• DOI: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2020.109020

Nanosecond Nd:YAG laser was used to synthesize metal oxide thin films of CdO structure and it is mixed with ZnO structure (CdO/ZnO composite structure) using pulsed laser deposition technique in the evacuated chamber at 450 °C. It based on novel way by switching the ablation process between Cd metal and Zn metal. The structure, composition and morphology were investigated by using XRD, UV-VIS-NIR diffuse reflectance, FT-IR, and SEM. XRD showed that the laser ablation process of metals (Cd and Zn) leads to produce crystalline structure from CdO and ZnO, respectively, while UV diffuse reflectance showed both samples have good transmittance values in the region of visible and near-infrared, whereas SEM technique showed that both samples have a particle size ranged between 20 and 50 nm, however, FT-IR technique shoed the presence of the characteristic peaks of the metal oxides (CdO and Zn) with slightly shifted of the characteristic peaks' position of the individual peaks’ position of CdO structure. After that, catalytic activity performance of the prepared thin films was studied against 4-nitrophenol, which the result showed that the degradation efficiency was 8% and 75% for the prepared thin film from CdO structure and it is mixed with ZnO structure, respectively, after passing 1 h. •Metal oxide nanoparticles are synthesized by pulsed laser deposition technique.•During deposition process, the metal targets were switched to embed each other.•PVA doped with metal oxide nanoparticles have been synthesized via single step.•The embedding process was carried inside the vacuum chamber.•The structural, compositional and optical properties of the prepared samples were studied.