Synthesis and catalytic study of CeO₂ heterostructures with (Zn_0.003-xCd_x)S_0.003 for the removal of crystal violet dye

In the present work different CeO₂ heterostructures are synthesized with (Zn_0.003-xCd_x)S_0.003 via co-precipitation method by varying the concentration of zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd). The synthesized heterostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–visible spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy. XRD results confirmed the formation of NPs with average crystallite size of 3–5 nm. TEM micrographs depicted the formation of agglomerated non-symmetrical NPs. EDS spectra gives confirmation for the presence of all the elements in synthesized material. FTIR, PL and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of ZnS and CdS in synthesized heterostructures with CeO₂ NPs. The photocatalytic activity has been studied by the UV–visible spectrophotometer. The crystal violet (CV) dye was used to check the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized heterostructures. It has been observed that the heterostructures of CeO₂ with (Cd_0.0015Zn_0.0015)S_0.003 has shown enhanced catalytic activity and large rate constant than all other synthesized samples.