Enhancement Photocatalytic Activity of Mn Doped Cds/Zno Nanocomposites for the Degradation of Methylene Blue Under Solar Light Irradiation

Abstract

Abstract In this study, Mn doped CdS/ZnO nanocomposites synthesized by co-precipitation method and its photocatalytic activity was tested using methylene blue under solar light irradiation. The prepared hybrid nanocomposites are characterized by using different physicochemical techniques including XRD, FESEM, EDX, TEM, UV-vis DRS and PL analysis. From the XRD analysis, Mn doped ZnO/CdS nanocomposite diffraction peaks only reflect the binary crystalline structures of ZnO and CdS. However, there is no characteristic peak of Mn is found that may be because of low content of Mn doped on ZnO/CdS. But Mn (2.9 wt%) was detected in the Mn doped ZnO/CdS nanocomposite, which was measured by EDX analysis. The FESEM and TEM results exhibit the surface particle of Mn doped ZnO/CdS nanocomposite which have spherical nature and confirmed the formation of Mn doped ZnO/CdS nanocomposites. The photocatalytic degradation results have revealed that the Mn doped CdS/ZnO nanocomposites exhibit admirable activity toward the photocatalytic degradation of the MB. The reason for excellent photocatalytic activity of Mn doped CdS/ZnO nanocomposites indicates the absorbance band shifted to red region and reduction of recombination of photogenerated electron-hole, which is in good agreement with UV-visible DRS analysis and PL study results. The fitted kinetic plots showed a pseudo-first-order reaction model and the appropriate rate constants were found to be 0.0068 min−1, 0.00846 min−1, and 0.0188 min−1, for ZnO, 25 % CdS/ZnO, and 0.8 mol% Mn doped CdS/ZnO nanocomposites, respectively. The maximum photocatalytic activity was achieved by 0.8 mol% Mn doped CdS/ZnO nanocomposites with a 95% degradation efficiency of MB. Hydroxyl and superoxide radicals, having a vital role in the degradation of MB, confirmed scavenging experiments. In addition, the recycling tests displays that the Mn doped CdS/ZnO nanocomposites have shown good stability and long durability. The enhanced photodegradation activity of Mn doped CdS/ZnO nanocomposites indicates the potential of the nanocomposite for the treatment of organic pollutants from the textile wastewater.