Exploring the role of defects on diverse properties of Cr-substituted ZnS nanostructures for photocatalytic applications
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Exploring the role of defects on diverse properties of Cr‑substituted ZnS nanostructures for photocatalytic applications D. V. Dake1 · N. D. Raskar1 · V. A. Mane1 · R. B. Sonpir1 · E. Stathatos2 · K. Asokan3 · P. D. Babu4 · B. N. Dole1 Received: 31 January 2020 / Accepted: 26 May 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Pristine ZnS nanospheres and 4% Cr-substituted ZnS nanocubes were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. The effect of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) cationic surfactant on morphology of as-synthesized samples was scrutinized. Diverse physical properties of as-synthesized materials for photocatalytic activity were investigated by XRD, FT-IR, UV–Vis, fluorescence spectroscopy, SEM, EDS, TG–DTA and I–V characteristics. It was explicitly observed that Cr-substituted ZnS nanocubes have higher efficiency than pristine ZnS nanospheres. Cr-substituted ZnS nanocubes are more photosensitive than pristine ZnS nanospheres owing to its lower energy band gap, smaller particle size, lattice strain and single crystalline phase. A variation in photocatalytic activity attributes to physical properties which endorses the degradation of MB, MO and MO–MB miscellaneous azo dye solution effectively. It was explicitly fortified that 4% Cr-doped ZnS nanocubes are better photocatalyst than pristine ZnS nanospheres for photocatalytic dye degradation application. Keywords Surface defects · Hydrothermal method · Azo dye · Photocatalytic activity · Nanospheres · Nanocubes
1 Introduction At present enhancement in problems of environmental concerns, every researcher has expedition for highly stable, unique optical and electrical properties, high photoactivity, non-toxic and low-cost visible-light responsive photocatalyst for effective eco-friendly remediation [1]. Many studies have been focused on photocatalytic activity for different pollutants by using distinct semiconductor materials like TiO2 [2], ZnO [3], ZnS [4], CdS [5], SnO2 [6], GO-based composites [7]. ZnS has been widely utilized in various applications such as spintronics [8], photovoltaic solar cells [9], LEDs * B. N. Dole [email protected] 1
Advanced Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad 431004, M.S., India
2
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Laboratory, University of the Peloponnese, 26334 Patras, Greece
3
Materials Science Laboratory, Inter-University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110 067, India
4
UGC‑DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, BARC, Mumbai centre R5‑Shed, Mumbai 400 085, India
[10], sensors [11], lasers [12] and photocatalytic [4] due to its vital role in recent industrial applications. The photocatalytic degradation and complete mineralization of undegraded organic pollutants in water by using the semiconductor photocatalyst method are objectives for young researchers [13]. Choi et al. [14] reported that the photocatalytic activ
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