Environmental Remediation via Solution Combustion Route Synthesis of Single-Phase Ferromagnetic Nickel Doped Zinc Oxide (Ni-ZnO) Nanostructure for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

To flourish new applications at a low cost to the environment, it is important to develop non-toxic eco-friendly ferromagnetic single-phase zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles with nickel (Ni2+) doping. The titled materials were prepared using an easy and rapid solution combustion synthesis method. XRD, SEM, and TEM were used to figure out the structure and morphology of as-synthesized materials, which confirmed the nanoscale ZnO structure in a single phase. The sample shows a single phase with nickel metal incorporated into the Wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO by replacing the Zn2+. The ferromagnetic behavior of the as synthesized samples was observed at room temperature. The ferromagnetic exchange coupling between the doped Ni2+ ions facilitate the ferromagnetic behavior, and the magnetic saturation is increased with the Ni2+ doping. As-synthesized samples were shown to have photocatalytic activity. The incorporation of nickel ions in the ZnO structure facilitated the enhancement of the catalytic activity. The improved catalytic activity is attributed to the band gap tuning of the ZnO, which favors the improved degradation of the Methylene Blue dye under a UV light source. The prepared samples pave the way for recyclable photo-catalysis applications of ZnO, which can be easily separated using a permanent magnet.