Photocatalytic activity of V doped ZnO nanoparticles thin films for the removal of 2- chlorophenol from the aquatic environment under natural sunlight exposure

Vanadium doped ZnO powders were used as precursors to deposit thin films of V5+ incorporated ZnO nanoparticles on glass substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique. The observed variations in Raman signals, visible region shift in the diffuse reflectance spectra along with a small shift in the (101) reflections of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the insertion of V5+ ions in ZnO lattice. No other additional reflection in the XRD results other than ZnO further endorsed the occupation of lattice positions by V entities rather than independent oxide formation. The asymmetric XPS peaks of Zn2p and V2p core levels confirmed the existence of both in the vicinity. The existence of minimal proportion of V3+ along with V5+ states varied the alteration of the oxidation states V in the synthetic route. The SEM images at various resolutions displayed the uniform distribution identical nanoparticles without the presence of additional phases in the deposited films. The SEM cross-section measurements revealed the uniform thickness of ∼90 nm of each film, whereas the surface studies of the films were performed by AFM. The as-synthesized films were tested for photocatalytic activity in sunlight illumination for the removal of 2-chlorophenol. The unique feature of the study was the estimation of the photocatalytic activity 20 ppm of 2-chlorophenol by exposing the low exposed area. The degradation of the substrate was measured by liquid phase UV–vis spectroscopy, whereas total organic carbon measurement revealed the mineralization of the substrate. The released Cl− ions were also measured by ion chromatography. The estimated flatband potentials and pHzpc values of the V doped materials, by Mott-Schottky analysis and zeta potential measurements respectively, were correlated with the photocatalytic activity. The kinetics of the photocatalytic degradation/mineralization process was estimated and results were correlated with the plausible mechanism. [Display omitted] •An economically viable and single-step removal of chlorinated phenolic compounds.•Thin films of V5+ incorporated ZnO nanoparticles were deposited on glass substrates.•They were deposited by the PLD technique and evaluated for photocatalytic activity.•They were tested for the removal of 2-chlorophenol using sunlight illumination.•High activity was achieved using these films with their exposed minimal area.