Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of pure and Zn-doped In2O3 nanostructures

In this work, pure and Zn-doped In2O3 nanostructures had been synthesized by facile template-free hydrothermal method. Structural, morphological and optical properties were characterized by using XRD, FT-IR, HR-SEM and HR-TEM, EDS, XPS, UV-DRS and PL measurement techniques. X-Ray Diffraction analysis showed that the prepared nanostructures were of pure cubic phase and the crystallite size was decreased with increased Zn dopant. HR-SEM and HR-TEM analysis showed morphological transformation with good crystallanity and decrease of particle size with doping. XPS spectra were recorded to reveal the composition and elemental state of Zn-doped In2O3. The optical properties of synthesized nanostructures were analyzed with UV–Vis DRS spectroscopy and band gap was found to decrease from 3.5 to 3.38 eV with Zn dopant concentration. The photoluminescence spectra displayed orange emission peaks at 600 nm for all prepared nanostructures. Photodegradation of Methylene Blue (MB) dye under ultra violet light radiation was studied with synthesized nanostructures.