Band gap change in doped ZnO is an observed phenomenon that is very interesting from the fundamental point of view. This work is focused on the preparation of pure and single phase nanostructured ZnO and Cu as well as Mn-doped ZnO for the purpose of understanding the mechanisms of band gap narrowing in the materials. ZnO, Zn0.99Cu0.01O and Zn0.99Mn0.01O materials were prepared using a wet chemistry method, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that all samples were pure and single phase. UV-visible spectroscopy showed that materials in the nanostructured state exhibit band gap widening with respect to their micron state while for the doped compounds exhibited band gap narrowing both in the nano and micron states with respect to the pure ZnO materials. The degree of band gap change was dependent on the doped elements and crystallite size. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that there were shifts in the valence bands. From both UV-visible and XPS spectroscopy, it was found that the mechanism for band gap narrowing was due to the shifting of the valance band maximum and conduction band minimum of the materials. The mechanisms were different for different samples depending on the type of dopant and dimensional length scales of the crystallites.

Organic pollutants such as dyes, antibiotics, analgesics, herbicides, pesticides, and stimulants become major sources of water pollution. Several treatments such as absorptions, coagulation, filtration, and oxidations were introduced and experimentally carried out to overcome these problems. Nowadays, an advanced technique by photocatalytic degradation attracts the attention of most researchers due to its interesting and promising mechanism that allows spontaneous and non-spontaneous reactions as they utilized light energy to initiate the reaction. However, only a few numbers of photocatalysts reported were able to completely degrade organic pollutants. In the past decade, the number of preparation techniques of photocatalyst such as doping, morphology manipulation, metal loading, and coupling heterojunction were studied and tested. Thus, in this paper, we reviewed details on the fundamentals, common photocatalyst preparation for coupling heterojunction, morphological effect, and photocatalyst’s characterization techniques. The important variables such as catalyst dosage, pH, and initial concentration of sample pollution, irradiation time by light, temperature system, durability, and stability of the catalyst that potentially affect the efficiency of the process were also discussed. Overall, this paper offers an in-depth perspective of photocatalytic degradation of sample pollutions and its future direction.

The demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has skyrocketed due to the fast-growing global electric vehicle (EV) market. The Ni-rich cathode materials are considered the most relevant next-generation positive-electrode materials for LIBs as they offer low cost and high energy density materials. However, by increasing Ni content in the cathode materials, the materials suffer from poor cycle ability, rate capability and thermal stability. Therefore, this review article focuses on recent advances in the controlled synthesis of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC). This work highlights the advantages and challenges associated with each synthesis method that has been used to produce Ni-rich materials. The crystallography and morphology obtained are discussed, as the performance of LIBs is highly dependent on these properties. To address the drawbacks of Ni-rich cathode materials, certain modifications such as ion doping, and surface coating have been pursued. The correlation between the synthesized and modified NMC materials with their electrochemical performances is summarized. Several gaps, challenges and guidelines are elucidated here in order to provide insights for facilitating research in high-performance cathode for lithium-ion batteries. Factors that govern the formation of nickel-rich layered cathode such as pH, reaction and calcination temperatures have been outlined and discussed.

ZnO and Zn0.99Cu0.01O nanostructures were prepared by a simple sol–gel method. The band gaps of the materials were systematically studied based on the dependence of the dimensions of the nanostructures as well as the presence of a dopant material, Cu. ZnO and Zn0.99Cu0.01O nanostructures were found to exhibit band gap widening whilst substitution of Cu in the lattice of ZnO caused its band gap to narrow with respect to the pure ZnO materials. In order to understand the phenomenon of band gap change, structural, spectroscopic, particle size and morphological studies were done. The band gap change occurring when the materials were in the nanostructured phase was proven to be mainly due to the downward shift of the valence band. Interestingly, when the band gaps of the pure ZnO and Cu doped ZnO were compared, the band gap changes were due to different shifts of the valence bands

Ag and Ni/ZnO photocatalyst nanostructures were successfully synthesized by a sol–gel method. In this work, the photocatalyst sample was systematically studied based on several factors affecting the performance of photocatalyst, which are size, morphology, band gap, textural properties and the number of active sites presence on the surface of the nanocatalyst. X-ray diffraction revealed that Ag/ZnO nanomaterials experienced multiple phases, meanwhile for Ni/ZnO the phase of nanomaterials were pure and single phase for stoichiometry less than 5%. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) showed almost all of the synthesized nanomaterials possessed a mixture of nanorods and spherical-like shape morphology. The Ag/ZnO showed high photocatalytic activity, producing at least 14th trials of nanocatalyst reusability on degradation of methyl orange under UV irradiation. Interestingly, this phenomenon was not observed in larger surface area of Ni/ZnO nanomaterials which supposedly favour photocatalytic activity, but instead producing poor photocatalytic performance. The main reasons were studied and exposed by temperature-programmed desorption of carbon dioxide (TPD–CO ₂ ) which showed that incorporation of Ag into ZnO lattice has enhanced the number of active sites on the surface of the nanocatalyst. Whereas incorporation of Ni in ZnO has lowered the number of active sites with respect to undoped ZnO. Active sites measurement is effective and significant, providing opportunities in developing an intensive study as an additional factor.