Synthesis of carbon doped ZnO with a porous structure and its solar-light photocatalytic properties

Carbon (C) doped Zinc oxide (ZnO) with a porous structure is obtained by calcination of the powders prepared by hydrothermal reaction of zinc gluconate. The prepared ZnO powders are characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) diffuse reflectance spectra. The visible-light photocatalytic activity is evaluated by photocatalytic decomposition of the dye Rhodamine B (RhB) in aqueous solution. Results show that the covalent carbon incorporated into the O site of ZnO lattice causes the lattice compression. The porous C-doped ZnO consisted of many oblong nanocrystals. The photo-response of the C-doped ZnO expands to the visible region up to 800 nm with lower band gap energy. The C-doped ZnO exhibit a significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity due to the improved absorption in the UV and visible-light region.