Synthesis and Characterizations of Europium (Eu3+) Ion- Doped Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) for Antibacterial and Photocatalytic Applications

Abstract

In this research, Undoped and Europium (Eu3+) ion-doped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles(Eu1-xZnxO)(x=0.03,0.06,0.09) were synthesized via the co-precipitation method using Zinc Nitrate Hexa-hydrate as the precursor material, Europium Nitrate pentahydrate as the dopant agent, and Sodium Hydroxide as the precipitating agent. The effects of varying the concentration of the Europium (Eu3+) ion on the structure, optical properties method were investigated. The properties of Undoped and Europium (Eu3+) ion-doped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, UV-Vis, Photoluminescence spectroscopy, and FT-IR Spectroscopy. The XRD result showed that the Europium (Eu3+) ion was successfully incorporated into the ZnO host matrix and the products were highly crystalline and have had significant quality. All synthesized samples were found to have a hexagonal wurtzite structure. UV-Vis absorption spectra revealed that, with increasing the amount of dopant concentration the values of energy band gap increases compared to the Undoped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles. Photoluminescence spectra confirmed that further doping of Europium (Eu3+) ion predominantly enhances the visible emission with various series characteristics of blue and green emission compared to undoped ZnO which exhibits the near band emission. Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) spectral analysis indicated the presence of functional groups such as, C=O, C-H, C=H, O-H, and ZnO NPs attached to the undoped and Europium (Eu3+) ion doped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles. The antibacterial activity of undoped and Europium (Eu3+) ion doped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles were also investigated. The result confirmed that Gram –ve bacteria were found to have a great potential than Gram +ve bacteria. The photocatalytic activity of Europium (Eu3+) ion doped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles has higher performance than Undoped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles.