Zinc (Zn) doped hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles with varying concentrations (pure, 2%, 4% and 6%) were synthesized via sol-gel method. The influence of divalent Zn ions on structural, optical and dielectric behavior of hematite were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of synthesized samples were indexed to rhombohedral R3c space group of hematite with 14–21 nm crystallite size. The lattice parameter (a and c) values increase upto Zn 4% and decrease afterwards. The surface morphology of prepared nanoparticles were explored using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The band gap measured from Tauc’s plot, using UV-Vis spectroscopy, showed reduction in its values upto Zn 4% and the reverse trend was obtained in higher concentrations. The dielectric properties of pure and Zn doped hematite were investigated at room temperature and followed the same trends as that of XRD parameters and band gap. Photocatalytic properties of nanoparticles were performed for hazardous Rose bengal dye and showed effective degradation in the presence of UV light. Hence, Zn²⁺ doped hematite can be considered as an efficient material for the potential applications in the domain of photocatalysis and also higher value of dielectric constant at room temperature makes them applicable in high energy storage devices.

In this paper, Zn_0.5Ni_0.5Fe₂O₄ nanoparticles were prepared by the Co-Precipitation method for photocatalytic application. The X-ray diffraction analysisrevealed a single-phase crystalline naturewith a crystallite size of 13.80 nm. The SEM analysis shows analmost spherical morphology of the sample. The band gap is determined with the help of Tauc’s plot and found to be 1.98 eV for Zn_0.5Ni_0.5Fe₂O₄. The synthesized nanoparticles are used as photocatalysts for Rose Bengal dye degradation and were found to be 77.43% efficient in 50 minutes. Hence, the synthesized Zn_0.5Ni_0.5Fe₂O₄ nanoparticles have excellent application as a catalyst in organic dye degradation.