Response Surface Methodology Optimized Sol–Gel Synthesis of Ag, Mg co-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles with High Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

In this paper, pure ZnO, Ag, and Mg mono-doped and co-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized via sol-gel method. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, DRS, BET, TEM, SEM-EDX, and PL techniques. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared photocatalysts was evaluated in degradation Rhodamine B (RhB) dye. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used as a statistical technique for optimizing the effect of synthesis variables on the removal efficiency of RhB. The results predicted from RSM were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results as indicated by correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.9624. Furthermore, statistical tests such as ANOVA table and lack of fit indicated that the model was adequate for representing the experimental data. Ag and Mg co-doped ZnO nanoparticles demonstrated the highest photocatalytic activity in comparison with pure and mono-doped ZnO. Maximum photocatalytic activity of co-doped ZnO nanoparticles was observed for a sample with 3 wt % Ag, 4 wt % Mg calcined at 530°C.