Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Using Visible Light Active N-Doped ZnO

Abstract

A visible light active nitrogen-doped ZnO (N-ZnO) was synthesized using a solvent-free mechanochemical method and applied to degrade methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous suspension. Results showed that nitrogen doping improved the photocatalytic activity of pristine ZnO by extending its spectral response to visible region. Using 2 g/L of N-ZnO, 98% MB with the initial concentration of 10 mg/L could be degraded within 2 h at pH 7 under 11.3 klux of visible light irradiation. After 6th run, it still exhibited appreciable photocatalytic activity with 94% MB degradation, indicating its high reusability though a simple pretreatment was performed.