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Synthesis of Sn-doped ZnO catalysts by solution combustion method for photocatalytic activity: a parametric study

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Abstract

The solution combustion synthesis method was used to synthesize mesoporous tin (Sn) doped ZnO photocatalyst using oxalyl dihydrazide as fuel. Experimental parameters such as dopant content (5–15 at.%), calcination temperature (400–800 ℃), and calcination time (4–8 h) were varied using the factorial design of experiments technique. The effects of different experimental parameters on photocatalyst properties such as crystallite size (nm), bandgap (eV), BET surface area (m2/g), and fractal dimension of the surface were presented. Furthermore, the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of Sn-doped ZnO for Orange G dye was investigated. The photocatalyst with low doping concentration (5 at.%), higher calcination temperature (800 ℃), and lower calcination time (1 h) shows better degradation efficiency (~ 57%) than other obtained photocatalysts and bare zinc oxide. BET surface area and the bandgap energy seem to be the most important properties affecting the dye degradation by Sn-doped ZnO.

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Acknowledgments

The author (PK) would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Republic of Slovenia (Grant No. C3330-19-952015) and the "Slovenian Research Agency", Chemistry for Sustainable Development (P1-0134) Program and research project N2–0188.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, 247667, India

    P. R. Potti, V. C. Srivastava & N. Kumar

  2. Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 113, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    P. Kumar & U. L. Štangar

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kozhikode, Kerala, 673 601, India

    S. Das

Authors
  1. P. R. Potti
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  2. V. C. Srivastava
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  3. P. Kumar
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  4. S. Das
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  5. N. Kumar
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  6. U. L. Štangar
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Correspondence to P. Kumar.

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The corresponding authors, on behalf of all co-authors, declare that the present work has no conflicts of interest directly or indirectly related to it.

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Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.

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Potti, P.R., Srivastava, V.C., Kumar, P. et al. Synthesis of Sn-doped ZnO catalysts by solution combustion method for photocatalytic activity: a parametric study. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 20, 5043–5050 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04315-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04315-4

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