Pure and Fe-doped zinc oxide nanocrystalline films were preparedvia a sol–gel method using -C for 2 h.The thin films were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanningelectron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV- visible spectroscopy. TheXRD results showed that ZnO has hexagonal wurtzite structure andthe Fe ions were well incorporated into the ZnO structure. As the Felevel increased from 2 wt% to 8 wt%, the crystallite size reduced incomparison with the pure ZnO. The transmittance spectra were thenrecorded at wavelengths ranging from 300 nm to 1000 nm. Theoptical band gap energy of spin-coated films also decreased as Fedoping concentration increased. In particular, their optical band gapenergies were 3.75, 3.6, 3.5, 3.45 and 3.3 eV doping concentration of0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% Fe, respectively. The performance of thepure and doped ZnO thin films was examined for the photocatalyticactivity using organic dyes (methyl orange, methyl blue, methylviolet). The samples ZnO with concentration of Fe showed increasedphotocatalytic activity with an optimal maximum performance at0.8 wt%.
Polydopamine Mediated Growth of Ag Nanostructures on ZnO Thin Films for Catalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes