https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04026-w
Regular Article
Hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic performance of Dy2O3/Mn nanostructures
1
Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
2
Basic and Applied Scientific Research Center, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
3
Laboratory of Physics of Materials and Nanomaterials Applied at Environment (LaPhyMNE), Faculty of Sciences in Gabes, Gabes University, Gabès, Tunisia
4
College of Science and Arts Sajir, University of Shaqra, P.O. Box 33, 11961, Shaqra, Saudi Arabia
5
Department of Mathematics and Science, College of Humanities and Sciences, Prince Sultan University, 11586, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Received:
7
January
2023
Accepted:
12
April
2023
Published online:
9
May
2023
Semiconductor photocatalysts have been widely used to catalyse photochemical reactions for the remediation of wastewater contaminated with organic dyes. This study aimed to synthesise and characterise manganese-doped Dy2O3 (Dy2O3/Mn) nanostructures as possible catalysts with improved photocatalytic properties. A low-cost hydrothermal method was used to fabricate materials with optimal morphological and structural properties. Before characterisation, Dy2O3/Mn nanostructures were subjected to heat treatments in the range 300–600 °C. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that all samples exhibited a cubic phase structure; the crystallite size varied between 30.7 and 40.2 nm with the calcination temperature. Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to examine the morphology and chemical content of the nanostructures, and the efficacy of the elaboration approach was validated. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy demonstrated the visible-light absorption of the samples, and the bandgap energy was determined to be approximately 2.9 eV. Methylene blue (MB) dye was used to examine the photocatalytic activity of the Dy2O3/Mn nanostructures under visible-light irradiation. After 360 min, 92% of MB was degraded. The doping of Dy2O3 with Mn improved both the photocatalytic activity and the overall properties of the catalyst. Therefore, Dy2O3/Mn nanostructures could replace current catalysts for the degradation of organic dyes in wastewater.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
