Hydrothermal synthesis of europium-doped flower-like ZnO hierarchical structures with enhanced sunlight photocatalytic degradation of phenol

Europium-doped flower-like ZnO hierarchical structures (Eu/ZnO) were successfully synthesized via a facile citric acid-mediated hydrothermal route. The detailed characterization studies revealed that the as-synthesized products were well-crystalline and accumulated by large amount of interleaving nanosheets. It was also observed that the Eu ion was successfully doped into the ZnO. The Eu doping improved the light absorption ability of the catalysts and increased the separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs. Under sunlight irradiation, the Eu/ZnO showed enhanced photocatalytic performance compared to pure ZnO and ZnO nanorods in the phenol degradation. The Eu/ZnO was also reused several times without appreciable loss of activity, suggesting its potential application in environmental remediation.