Synthesis and Photocatalytic Properties of Co-Doped Zn1-xCoxMn2O Hollow Nanospheres

Abstract

A series of Co-doped Zn1-xCoxMn2O nanocrystals with a spinel structure were successfully prepared by hydrothermal method, and the influence of Co doping concentration on the microstructure, morphology, elemental composition, and optical and photocatalytic properties of the samples was characterized. The experimental results show that all samples exhibit a tetragonal structure, Co2+ ions are successfully substituted for the lattice site of Zn2+ to generate ZnMn2O4 nanocrystals, and the crystalline size decreases as Co-doped concentration increase. The morphologies are loose hollow microsphere structures. The band gap of Zn1−xCoxMn2O samples is smaller than that of pure ZnMn2O4 and has been red shifted. The photocatalytic activity of doped Zn1−xCoxMn2O4 samples is obviously higher than that of pure ZnMn2O4 samples for the photodegradation of MO under visible light irradiation. All these results demonstrate that Co-doped spinel ZnMn2O4 nanocrystals are a meaningful choice for photocatalytic degradation of the pollutants.