Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity Using Near Visible Light of ZnO Nanorods by Doping with Mn2+ Ions

ZnO is a promising photocatalyst for photocatalytic oxidation of organic compounds under the influence of sunlight that provides clean energy and decomposes sustainable organic pollutants substances. ZnO is found to have non-toxic properties, long-term stability, high carrier mobility, low cost and biocompatibility. However, some disadvantages of ZnO limit its use in photocatalysis. Due to its wide bandgap, ZnO can only be activated under UV illumination. On the other hand, the photo-excited electron-hole pairs that recombine quickly on ZnO surface, suppress its photocatalytic properties. To improve its properties and performance, doping with transition metals was used to improve the optical properties of ZnO. Among the transition metal ions, Manganese (Mn) was commonly used to improve and tune the optical, electrical, diameter, height, and the number of nanorods (NRs) per unit area. Introduction of Mn into ZnO could enhance the photocatalytic activity due to the increase in the defect sites that effectively decreased the recombination of free electrons and holes. This study successfully synthesized ZnO nanorod arrays generated on glass substrates with different concentrations of doping Mn (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2%) at 100 °C by a simple hydrothermal method. To investigate the structure, morphology and optical properties, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were conducted. With the range of Mn doping ≤ 2% mol, the band gap reduced slightly, and the most optimized Mn doping concentration was of 0.5%. Overall, this work shows that the most effective way to increase ZnO’s photocatalytic activity in the visible region by reducing its band gap was the reduction in the size of the material or denaturation of ZnO by certain metals or non-metals.