Asad ur Rehman Khan, Majid Niaz Akhtar, Aqsa Afzal, Sohail Ahmad, Sajawal ur Rehman Khan, Abdul Rehman, Mohamed Mohany, Salim S. Al-Rejaie, M.S. Al-Buriahi
Tunable semiconductor nanoparticles continue to be the primary inorganic catalytic materials for photochemistry. Nanostructured semiconductor materials have unveiled a novel realm of opportunities for photodetection and photocatalysis devices. Pure and rare earth Ce-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal method and characterized to investigate the gas sensing abilities (especially for NO2), UV sensitivity and photocatalytic investigations. The influence of Ce dopant on ZnO's structural, morphological and optical properties was examined. 1 % Ce doped ZnO nanostructures revealed the maximum responsivity for NO2 gas over CO, H2, NH3, and acetone gases at 100 ppm concentration and 250 °C optimised temperature. The effectiveness of the sensor was recorded against relative humidity, and it illustrated the attractive response time (11.8 s) and recovery time (56.3 s) in even 41 % humidity. Results revealed that the 1 % Ce doped ZnO-based gas sensor is recommended as a reliable NO2 gas sensor for applications in environmental safety and monitoring. Sample with 3 % Ce doped ZnO revealed the efficient performance for UV photodetection with photo detective of 420 × 108 Jones, a rise time of 0.1 s, and a decay time of 8.7 s. 3 % Ce doped ZnO nanoparticles illustrated the maximum degradation efficiency of 98.4 % for DB71 under solar irradiation. The effect of catalyst weight and pH on the degradation efficiency was investigated. The five-cycle photostability test of selective catalyst revealed its potential for gas sensing and wastewater treatment applications. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.
Institute of Physics, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan; Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Universitas Negeri Malang, 65145, Indonesia; School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University of Engineering Science, Guizhou, 551700, China; Department of Computer Science, National Textile University, Faisalabad, 37610, Pakistan; Department of Computer Science, National Textile University, Karachi Campus, Karachi, 74900, Pakistan; Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G4 0NG, United Kingdom; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, 55760, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia; Department of Physics, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey
