Structural and photocatalytic properties of nickel-doped zinc oxide powders with variable dopant contents

•One-dimensional Ni-doped ZnO nanorods with variable dopant contents are fabricated.•Ni-doped ZnO nanorods are crystalline hexagonal wurtzite ZnO crystal structure.•Ni is in situ doped into the lattice of wurtzite ZnO nanorods.•The Ni-doped ZnO nanorods exhibit promising UV-light activity for rhodamine B degradation.

The one-dimensional (1D) Ni-doped ZnO powders with variable dopant contents were synthesized at a low temperature (90 °C) using ZnCl2, NiCl2 and NaOH solution as reaction precursors by a simple water bath method. The morphology and the microstructure of the as-prepared undoped and Ni-doped ZnO samples have been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectra, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and UV–vis spectroscopy. The results revealed that the samples were one-dimensional nanorods. Ni-doped ZnO nanorods were crystalline hexagonal wurtzite ZnO crystal structure, and the Ni ion was in a 2+ charge state in the crystal lattice of ZnO. The absorption spectra presented the existence of special two-absorption-region (strong UV-light and weak visible-light at 550–800 nm). The performance of Ni-doped ZnO powders as efficient photocatalyst was further demonstrated in the degradation of Rhodamine B (RB) under UV-light irradiation. The Ni-doped ZnO powders show high photocatalytic activity during the degradation of RB under UV-light. It was found that an appropriate amount of Ni dopant can greatly increase photocatalytic activity and the sample with 10% Ni doping exhibits the highest photocatalytic efficiency.

Graphical abstractNi-doped ZnO powders with variable dopant contents fabricated at a low temperature exhibit high photocatalytic efficiency for rhodamine B in aqueous solution.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide