Synthesis and catalytic properties of Al and Cu doped ZnO thin films on the photolytic degradation of methylene blue

Zinc acetate dehydrate, diethanol amine, and ethoxy ethanol were used as the starting material, stabilizer, and solvent, respectively, in the preparation of ZnO thin films by simple dip coating method on glass substrate. The effects of Aluminium (Al) and Copper (Cu) doping of different concentrations on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of the ZnO thin films were investigated by XRD, SEM, AFM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. The scanning electron microscopy images and atomic force microscopy images confirms the formation of the micro sized particulates upon Al and Cu doping. On increasing the doping concentration of Al and Cu, films were observed to be of amorphous nature from XRD. Zn Othin films show good photo catalytic performance with high degradation efficiency for methylene blue textile dye under UV irradiation. But the photo catalytic performance was reduced below 40% on doping with Al and Cu impurities due to the amorphous nature of Al and Cu doped ZnO films, which affects the transport of the photo generated charge carriers.