Effect of lanthanum doping on structural and optical properties of ZnO along with photocatalytic activity in degradating toxic pesticide (monocrotophos)

Organic pollutants such as pesticides, dyes used in agriculture and industries pollute the water on large scale. In order to solve the problem of water pollution caused by the agricultural pesticides its degradation process has been studied. For this purpose, pure-ZnO and La doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized via co-precipitation method to observe photocatalytic response. Synthesized nanoparticles were unambiguously examined using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques for morphological and structural characterization. UV-visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) techniques for optical characterization. The average crystallite sizes of ZnO and La-doped ZnO NPs were ∼55 nm and 35 nm, respectively. For photocatalytic activity, monocrotophos which is an insecticide is aimed to degrade in normal water under u.v light illumination. Enhancement in photocatalytic degradation efficiency is observed in La-doped ZnO due to enhancement in the surface area.Organic pollutants such as pesticides, dyes used in agriculture and industries pollute the water on large scale. In order to solve the problem of water pollution caused by the agricultural pesticides its degradation process has been studied. For this purpose, pure-ZnO and La doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized via co-precipitation method to observe photocatalytic response. Synthesized nanoparticles were unambiguously examined using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques for morphological and structural characterization. UV-visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) techniques for optical characterization. The average crystallite sizes of ZnO and La-doped ZnO NPs were ∼55 nm and 35 nm, respectively. For photocatalytic activity, monocrotophos which is an insecticide is aimed to degrade in normal water under u.v light illumination. Enhancement in photocatalytic degradation efficiency is observed in La-doped ZnO due to enhancement in the surface area.