Effect of dysprosium concentration on the photocatalytic and electrochemical properties of zirconium ferrite nanoparticles

Abstract

A novel dysprosium-doped zirconium ferrite was prepared by the chemical precipitation method. The doping concentration of dysprosium was set at 0 %, 2 %, and 4 %. The structural properties, such as crystalline size and strain, were examined. The doping tuned the morphology of the nanoparticles. The band gap of the material decreases as the doping of dysprosium increases. The degradation of methylene blue was examined under natural sunlight and 93.2 % degradation efficiency was achieved at 120 min. The doping enhances the degradation efficiency using the zirconium ferrite catalyst. The electrochemical properties of the prepared nanoparticles as electrodes in a supercapacitor were studied using cyclic voltammetry and the galvanostatic charge–discharge technique. The maximum specific capacitance of ∼ 375F/g was observed at the scan rate of 5 mV/s.