UV-irradiated photocatalytic performance of Er3+ ion doped SnO2 for hazardous Rose Bengal dye.

In this paper, Pure and Er doped SnO₂ (Er = 1%, 3%, 5% and 7%) nanoparticles have been synthesized by sol-gel method to investigate the degradation of harmful Rose bengal dye. Undoped and erbium-doped SnO₂ nanoparticles formed a tetragonal rutile structure, as shown by X-ray diffraction. Oxygen vacancy concentration has been found to increase with an increase in dopant incorporation, according to photoluminescence analysis. Furthermore, the band gap was reduced up to 5% Er (E_g = 3.37 eV) in comparison to that of non-substituted SnO₂ (E_g = 3.74 eV), with the creation of vacancy defects being the main cause. The photocatalytic results indicate that 96.94% Rose bengal dye have been degraded by Er 5% within 60 min under UV light irradiation, indicating Er 5% doped SnO₂ is the most suitable catalyst to degrade industrial waste (organic dye) on a large scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]