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Effects of Terbium Doping on Structural, Optical and Photocatalytic Properties of ZnO Nanopowder Prepared by Solid-State Reaction

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Abstract

Terbium (Tb) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanopowders with different Tb concentrations (3%, 5% and 7%) were synthesized via a solid-state reaction method and investigated by using thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared ray spectroscopy. XRD results showed that the nanopowders have hexagonal wurtzite phase with grain size in the range of 20–56 nm with high purity. The photocatalytic efficiency tested on the degradation of methylene blue dye by hydrogen peroxide under natural UV–Vis irradiation at pH ~ 6.4 in 30 min achieved an increasing from about 3.6 to 48%. The optical properties denoted enhancement of its optical absorption in visible range from about 35 to 72%, a decreasing of its bandgap energy from 3.215 to 3.188 eV and intense photoluminescence emission under ultraviolet excitation in the green and blue spectral range whose wave lengths can be adjusted by varying the Tb doping percentage.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia through Grant No. 2019190. The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of the services and facilities of the Basic and Applied Scientific Research Center (BASRC) at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. The authors gratefully acknowledge the services of the Institute for Research & Medical Consultations (IRMC) at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University.

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  1. Basic and Applied Scientific Research Center, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, Dammam, 31441, Saudi Arabia

    Taher Ghrib, Imen Massoudi & Amal L. Al-Otaibi

  2. Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, Dammam, 31441, Saudi Arabia

    Taher Ghrib, Imen Massoudi, Amal L. Al-Otaibi, Amal Al-Malki, Aya Kharma, Eman Al-Hashem, Rawan A. Al-Ghamdi & Ruba A. Al-Zuraie

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  1. Taher Ghrib
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Ghrib, T., Massoudi, I., Al-Otaibi, A.L. et al. Effects of Terbium Doping on Structural, Optical and Photocatalytic Properties of ZnO Nanopowder Prepared by Solid-State Reaction. J Inorg Organomet Polym 31, 239–250 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-020-01761-w

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