Synthesis and Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Ce-Doped Zinc Oxide Nanorods by Hydrothermal Method

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a n-type semiconductor material which has a wide direct band gap energy of ∼ 3.3 eV, and other interesting optical properties, hence it's potentially applied to various fields such as electronics, optoelectronics, sensors, photonic devices, and also photocatalyst. Dopant in ZnO nanostructures is an effective way to improve ZnO's structural properties in various applications. In this study, undoped and Ce doped ZnO nanorods were synthesized on ITO coated glass substrates by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis for seeding deposition and hydrothermal methods at a temperature of 95 ⁰C for 2 hours for growth. X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV-VIS and Photoluminescence spectroscopy were used to characterize the crystal structure, surface morphology and optical properties of ZnO nanorods and the photocatalytic activity test for methylene blue degradation. The experimental results showed that 3% Cerium dopant has produced hexagonal morphology ZnO nanorod growing more uniform on (002) crystal planes, increased the intensity of ultraviolet absorbance thereby increase the degradation speed of methylene blue.