Preparation of Yb-doped ZnO nanoparticles by combustion method combined with high temperature calcination for photodegradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation

Abstract

Yb-doped ZnO nanoparticles with different contents of Yb were prepared by a tartaric acid-assisted combustion method combined with high temperature calcination. TGA/DTA, XRD, TEM, XPS, Raman spectrophotometry, UV-visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy were used to determine calcination temperature, phase, morphology, vibrational mode, optical properties and atomic composition. In this research, Yb3+ ions substituted for Zn2+ ions containing in hexagonal ZnO structure. The samples were composed of nanoparticles with good particle-size distribution. Their photocatalytic activities were investigated through the degradation of methylene blue under visible radiation. The results demonstrated that Yb dopant can play the role in improving the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO and that Zn0.97Yb0.03O nanoparticles exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity of 96.78% within 100 min with ●O2– and ●OH as the main active radicals.