Multivalent Cu-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles with Full Solar Spectrum Absorbance and Enhanced Photoactivity

Jacob, Niya Mary and Madras, Giridhar and Kottam, Nagaraju and Thomas, Tiju (2014) Multivalent Cu-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles with Full Solar Spectrum Absorbance and Enhanced Photoactivity. In: INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH, 53 (14). pp. 5895-5904.

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Abstract

Full solar spectrum absorbers are widely pursued for applications related to photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Here we report multivalent Cu-doped ZnO nanoparticles which exhibit full solar spectrum absorbance and high photoactivity. Metathesis-based, green-chemical approaches with synthesis yield of similar to 100% are used. Cu incorporation in ZnO results in an increase of average solar spectrum absorbance from a mere 0.4% to 34%. On the other hand, (Zn, Cu)0 composites result in materials with up to 64% average solar spectrum absorbance. Doped systems operate well under both visible and UV illumination. The nanomaterials prepared are characterized by using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Photocatalysts explored have particle sizes >= 50 nm. This is deliberately done in order to avoid the nanotoxic size regime of ZnO. Despite the large particle size and low specific surface area (<20 m(2).g(-1)), the best catalyst reported here compare favorably with recent reports on ZnO based systems. Using X-photoelectron spectroscopy and synthesis property correlations, we infer that the presence of multivalent Cu (most likely in the form of Cu1+delta) on ZnO surface is responsible for the observed photoactivity enhancement.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
Publisher:	AMER CHEMICAL SOC
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to the AMER CHEMICAL SOC, USA
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Materials Research Centre Division of Mechanical Sciences > Chemical Engineering
Date Deposited:	03 Jun 2014 08:38
Last Modified:	03 Jun 2014 08:38
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/49124

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