Synthesis and characterization of cerium–silver co-doped zinc oxide as a novel sunlight-driven photocatalyst for effective degradation of Reactive Red 120 dye

Cerium–silver (Ce–Ag) co-doped ZnO was synthesized by precipitation–decomposition and tested for the degradation of Reactive Red 120 dye under natural sun light irradiation. Three weight percent Ce co-doped Ag–ZnO was found to be most efficient. Hence, this catalyst (3 wt% Ce–Ag–ZnO) has been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XRD and XPS reveal the presence of metallic Ag and tetravalent Ce. Ag and Ce shift the absorption of ZnO to entire visible region. It was found that the Ce–Ag–ZnO exhibited higher degradation efficiency when compared to Ag-ZnO, Ce–ZnO, prepared ZnO, Commercial ZnO, TiO2, and TiO2-P25 at neutral pH (=7). Quantum yields of all processes were calculated and compared. Higher activity of Ce–Ag–ZnO in natural sunlight may be due to higher visible light absorption of Ce–Ag–ZnO when compared to native ZnO. The influences of operational parameters such as the amount of photocatalyst, dye concentration, initial pH on photo mineralization of RR 120 have been analyzed. The mineralization of RR 120 dye was confirmed by chemical oxygen demand (COD) measurements. A dual mechanism has been proposed for efficient degradation of RR 120 dye by Ce–Ag–ZnO under solar light at neutral pH. This photocatalyst was found to be reusable up to four runs.