Morphology controlled synthesis of Sm doped ZnO nanostructures for photodegradation studies of Acid Blue 113 under UV-A light

In this report, photocatalytic degradation of Acid Blue 113 (AB 113) has been investigated in aqueous heterogeneous media containing pure and Sm³⁺ doped ZnO nanostructures. A simple low frequency (42 kHz) ultrasound was employed to synthesize the nanostructures. X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis-NIR and Photoluminescence analyses revealed that Sm³⁺ ion was successfully doped into ZnO lattice. The organic solvents and dopant highly influenced the particle morphology which was identified through transmission electron microscopy. The photocatalytic efficiency was highly depended on the native defects and dopant. Sm³⁺ doped ZnO nanostructures demonstrated better photocatalytic degradation of the AB 113 due to the involvement of more oxygen vacancy defects, oxygen interstitials and Sm³⁺ ions in the charge recombination process and enhanced the better catalytic reaction under a UV-A lamp.