Aim: The aim of this study is to synthesize and characterize the more efficient photocatalyst zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) via the addition of dopant lanthanum (La) and pineapple peel extract. Pineapple peel as a green source consists of bioactive compounds that work as a capping agent and reducer for our La-doped ZnONPs (La-ZnONPs) and shield against the aggregation of nanoparticles. In addition, this study evaluates the influence of La doping on their structural and optical properties for photocatalytic applications. Methods: La-ZnONPs were modified and fabricated efficiently with the simple co-precipitation method with pineapple extract in this research work. The materials (La-ZnONPs) were thoroughly characterized by various spectroscopic techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), ultra-violet visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. Results: This study effectively demonstrates the effect of concentration of La dopant on the La-ZnONPs fabrication such as elevation of La concentration from 1% to 3% in ZnO results in an augmentation of crystallite size (from 27.25 to 21.27 nm), accompanied by a corresponding shift in bandgap values (3.21 to 3.11 eV) along with surface area, and induces a morphological transformation after treatment. Conclusions: It was concluded that combining La doping with a green synthesis route provides an environmentally sustainable pathway for producing ZnO-based nanomaterials with improved functional properties.
Hussain et al. (Wed,) studied this question.