Facile synthesis of Ce doped ZnO nanowires for efficient photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants from water

We illustrate a facile fabrication of Ce doped ZnO nanowires with outstanding photodegradation performance by thermal decomposition route. The impact of cerium doping on structure, optical and photodegradation behavior of ZnO nanowires was examined using XRD, FESEM, Raman, XPS, PL and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. FESEM results clearly revealed ZnO nanowires with varying aspect ratio. XRD, Raman, XPS and UV–vis absorption studies substantiated the effective Ce ions substitution into ZnO host matrix. The photocatalytic response of the nanostructures was measured by decomposition of cationic and anionic dyes and the experimental observations revealed that ZnO nanowires doped with 0.5% Ce demonstrated outstanding photodecolorization performance over other photocatalysts and exhibited 96.6%, 92.2%, 67.1% and 77.7% photodecomposition efficiency towards MB, MG, MO and RhB dye removal, respectively in 16 min of sunlight exposure. Repeatability experiments demonstrated the outstanding reusability as well as stability of synthesized nanowires, which make them exciting for wastewater treatment applications.