Comparative Study of Manganese and Cobalt Oxide Doped Zinc Oxide as Photocatalyst Nanomaterials

Abstract The research extensively explores the optical, structural, and morphological characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) doped with manganese and cobalt nanoparticles, with a specific focus on their impact on photocatalytic activity. ZnO, known for its cost‐effectiveness and high efficiency due to a broadband gap (≈3.37 eV), is widely studied as a semiconductor photocatalyst. However, ZnO's intrinsic limitation lies in its predominant photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation. To address this, transition metal ions (Mn and Co) are introduced to the ZnO lattice to create new energy levels in the band gap. By optimizing the dosage of the Mn‐ZnO and Co‐ZnO photocatalyst, the work presents a noteworthy impact, contributing to a significant reduction in photodegradation time (≈30 min), demonstrating the enhanced efficiency of the photocatalytic process.