Polyol-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of Mn-doped α - Fe2O3(MFO) nanostructures: Spin disorder-induced magnetism and photocatalytic properties.

Hierarchical nanostructures play an important role in environmental clean-up and sustainability applications. The magnetic and photocatalytic characteristics of flower-like Mn-doped α-Fe2O3 nanostructures were prepared by using a polyol-assisted hydrothermal method. Crystallite sizes are in the range of 35-42 nm, and the existence of 3D hierarchical nanostructures was observed in FESEM pictures. The optical band gap energy varies between 2.08 and 2.16 eV, while XPS examination exposes the ions' charge states and validates Mn3+ inclusion in the Fe3+ lattice. At room temperature, the addition of Mn to α-Fe2O3 results in a spin disorder ferromagnetism and coercivity of about 600 Oe was achieved. Methylene blue (MB) dye solution degraded by 92% when 2.5% Mn doped with α-Fe2O3 under visible conditions for 120 min irradiation time.

Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanoparticles prepared by biological method.

Zinc oxide have been produced via a simple green method from zinc nitrate and leaf extract aqueous solutions. Prepared ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were investigated by employing through UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM), respectively. The present investigation, confirmed the estimated band gap 3.51eV and the PL intensity at 402nm in visible region are dependent upon the geometrical shape and size of the ZnO NPs. The TEM micrograph and XRD pattern confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO NPs. The presence of functional groups and the chemical bonding are confirmed by FTIR spectra. EDS shows that the highly pure ZnO nanostructures. Moreover, the catalytic activity of synthesized ZnO in the reduction of methylene blue was studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The effects of process conditions on the morphology and size of ZnO have been found from FE-SEM and TEM analyses, respectively.

Optical behavior and sensor activity of Pb ions incorporated ZnO nanocrystals.

We present the synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline ZnO doped with Pb in different concentrations. The structural and chemical compositions of the products are characterized by XRD, XPS, EDS and FT-IR spectroscopy. The observed results suggest that Pb ions (Pb(2+) and Pb(4+)) are successfully incorporated into the lattice position of Zn(2+) ions in ZnO. The optical properties of the products are studied by UV-Vis and room temperature PL measurements. The PL emission spectra of ZnO:Pb, show the intensity quenching for both the UV and visible emissions. The influence of Pb on controlling the size and morphology of ZnO is studied by FESEM and confirmed by HRTEM. Amperometric response shows that ZnO incorporated with 0.075M of Pb ions has enhanced sensor activity for H2O2 than the undoped product.

Synthesis and characterization of surfactants assisted Cu(2+) doped ZnO nanocrystals.

In the present work, we report a simple chemical precipitation method to synthesize precursors of different levels of Cu(2+) ions doped crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles in the presence of capping agents namely cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP). Thermal analysis result suggests that 300°C could be the optimum level of annealing for the harvest of pure phase of ZnO from the as prepared particles. The structural, optical and chemical features of undoped and surfactants assisted ZnO: Cu(2+) nanoparticles were studied by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Among the two surfactants used SHMP is an effective one in controlling the size and morphology of the particles.

Luminance behavior of Ce3+ doped ZnS nanostructures.

We report the synthesis and characterization of undoped and various levels of Ce(3+) doped ZnS nanocrystal. The structure and size of the products were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The existence of functional groups was identified by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR). The UV-Visible measurements reveal that the synthesized products are blue shifted when compared with bulk phase of ZnS as a result of quantum confinement effect. The PL studies show an enhancement in the intensity of emission band in the UV region on increased Ce(3+) doping. The morphology of the products was evaluated by Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and High resolution transmission electron microscopy (FESEM). The presence of Ce(3+) was confirmed by Energy dispersive spectral analysis (EDS). The thermal stability of pure and doped products was analyzed by thermo gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA).