Synthesis and characterization of Cd-doped ZnO nanoflowers and its photocatalytic activity

The flower-like Cd-doped ZnO nanostructures were synthesized by hydrothermal method using zinc chloride( ZnCl 2),cadmium chloride( CdCl 2),sodium hydroxide( NaOH) as reactants. Then,the photocatalytic activities of as-grown samples were investigated by photo-degradation of rhodamine B( RhB). The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction( XRD),scanning electron microscopy( SEM),energy-dispersive X-ray analysis( EDS),photoluminescence( PL) spectroscopy,UV-visible spectroscopy. Experimental results show that with the Cd doping,the morphologies of ZnO changed greatly,and the size of ZnO became smaller. In addition,compared with the undoped ZnO,the absorption edge and the UV emission peak of the Cd-doped ZnO nanoflowers made a red shift clearly. The band gap decreased from 3. 24 eV to 3. 16 eV. Finally,in the photocatalytic experiment,the photocatalytic activity of Cd-doped ZnO was enhanced,and the degradation of rhodamine B( RhB) was up to 98% after the irradiation for 3 h. So the photocatalytic activities of Cd-doped ZnO nanoflowers were higher than that of the undoped ZnO.