Fe3+ doped ZnO nanostructures for improved photocatalytic degradation of malachite green, crystal violet and antibacterial activity

In this work, a series of highly efficient Fe3+ doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using Coprecipitation. The structure and morphology of the NPs were characterized by various methods, including X-ray diffraction, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, BET analysis and UV–Vis Spectroscopy. FESEM reveals a strong correlation between Fe concentration and the morphology of NPs. Nano flowerlike structure of ZnO changed to spherical NPs with Fe doping which is also evident from the observed enhancement of surface area in BET analysis. Fe3+ ions also caused the lowering of the optical band gap of ZnO NPs. The photocatalytic testing of the nanocatalysts is carried out using a high-intensity UV lamp (450 W) with cationic dyes [namely Malachite Green (MG) and Crystal Violet (CV)]. Among the prepared samples, 5% Fe-doped ZnO exhibited the highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency against MG dye (99.05% degradation in 20 min) and CV dye (96.85% degradation in 20 min). The antibacterial test demonstrated similar results with a dramatically improved bactericidal effect of 5% Fe: ZnO NPs over pristine ZnO NPs.