Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic properties of Ho doped ZnO nanostructures synthesized by sonochemical method

•Undoped and Ho doped ZnO synthesized by sonochemical method.•Undoped and Ho doped ZnO used as photocatalysts.•The promising materials for environmental treatment.•Ho doped ZnO shows higher photocatalytic property than ZnO. The three-dimensional flowerlike undoped and Ho doped ZnO microstructure was successfully synthesized by a sonochemical method. The morphologies and structures of the phase were characterized by the analyses of XRD, SEM and TEM. The flower-like structure composed of numerous one-dimensional hexagonal nanoprisms ZnO and Ho doped ZnO were revealed as hexagonal crystal structure with exposure (001) facet. The Ho doped ZnO exhibited a relatively higher photocatalytic activity than the pure ZnO in the degradation of methylene blue under UV light.