Effect of Co-pollutants on the Photocatalytic Activity of Fe doped ZnO Nanoparticles on the Degradation of Methylene Blue

ZnO nanoparticles and Fe doped ZnO nanoparticles with varying Fe concentrations as 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1% respective to Zn, was successfully synthesized by the sol-gel method. Synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. As revealed by both studies Fe has successfully doped to ZnO without causing any lattice distortions. Synthesized catalysts were photocatalytically active in degrading methylene blue under sunlight. The effect of co-pollutants; Rhodamine B, Pb
²⁺
, ${\text{P}}{{\text{O}}_4}^{3 - }$ and ${{\text{S}}_2}{{\text{O}}_3}^{2 - }$ on the rate of photodegradation was studied and it was found that Rhodamine B, Pb
²⁺
, and ${\text{P}}{{\text{O}}_4}^{3 - }$ reduce the rate and ${{\text{S}}_2}{{\text{O}}_3}^{2 - }$ increases the rate of photodegradation.