A facile method to prepare bismuth doped ZnO photocatalysts and their photocatalytic property

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Kirsehir Ahi Evran University, 40100 Kirsehir, Turkey

E-mail: nazli.turkten@ahievran.edu.tr

Manuscript received online 20 October 2020, revised and accepted 31 October 2020

ZnO and bismuth doped ZnO (Bi-ZnO) photocatalysts were synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. In this respect, three different bismuth weight percentages (0.5% 1.0% and 1.5%) of photocatalysts were prepared through an aqueous chemical growth method at low temperature and followed by precipitation. The structural and morphological pro perties of the photocatalysts were investigated by FTIR, SEM-EDX, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the photocatalysts were performed by degradation of Reactive Red-194 (RR-194) under UV light irradiation. SEM images of the synthesized photocatalyst were nanorod like shape. The presence of phases of ZnO and Bi₂O₃ in XRD spectroscopy confirmed a successful doping. The results revealed that 1.0-Bi-ZnO photocatalyst exhibited a better photocatalytic activity compared to ZnO.