Nanostructured Bi 2 O 3 -ZnO p-n heterojunction photocatalyst derived from ZnBi-NO 3 LDHs for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in water samples

In this study, nanostructured Bi ₂ O ₃ /ZnO p-n heterojunction photocatalyst was developed from ZnBi-LDHs, which was prepared followed by facile co-precipitation using Zn(NO ₃ ) ₂ .6H ₂ O, and Bi(NO ₃ ) ₃ .5H ₂ O salts as precursors. The synthesized materials were characterized well by FT-IR, XRD, EDX-SEM, and TGA techniques. Optical of the material study was carried out. The Tauc plot, followed by optical study, was plotted, and bandgap energy of Bi ₂ O ₃ /ZnO p-n heterojunction, was calculated, and found to be 1.8 eV eV. The material was tested for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light of a Tungsten lamp (100 W), and worked well at pH 8.0, concentration 10 mg L ^− 1 MB, photocatalyst dosage 30 mg and, stir period of 60 min at 25°C. Nanostructured Bi ₂ O ₃ /ZnO p-n heterojunction exhibited the efficiency of ≥ 95.00% with RSD ≤ 4.0%.