Hydrothermal fabrication of natural sun light active Dy2WO6 doped ZnO and its enhanced photo-electrocatalytic activity and self-cleaning properties

Abstract

In this article we report the fabrication of 3 wt% Dy₂WO₆ doped ZnO via a template-free hydrothermal process and its photocatalytic activity against azo dyes Rhodamine-B (Rh-B) and Trypan Blue (TB) in solar light irradiation. The as prepared Dy₂WO₆ doped ZnO was characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) field emission transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), diffused reflectance (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The results suggested that rare earth tungstate doping, with Dy₂WO₆, on ZnO has a great influence on the photocatalytic activity. Dy₂WO₆-ZnO possesses high reusability without appreciable loss of catalytic activity up to four runs and exhibits higher electrocatalytic activity than the prepared ZnO for methanol electrooxidation in alkaline medium, revealing its promising potential as the anode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells. Hydrophobicity of ZnO increases on doping with Dy₂WO₆.