Preparation and Characterization of Metal Oxide Thin Films for Photocatalytic Environmental Remediation
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Date
2026
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Abstract
This research aims to fabricate metal oxide thin films using the sol-gel dip coating method
and to examine their effectiveness in the photocatalyt ic degradat ion of various solvent (ethanolmethanol)
on a glass substrate, with applications in photocatalysis and photodetection,
respectively. We examined the structural, morphological, optical, and electrical characterist ics
of these films using various methods. X-ray diffraction patterns demonstrate that all films are
polycrystalline and consist of a hexagonal wurtzite structure. The Mg-doped ZnO thin films,
produced using ethanol solvent, have a preferential orientation along (002), with Scherer's
formula indicat ing crystallite sizes between 22.82 and 36.07 nm. layers composed of thin layers
of Na-doped ZnO and Mg-doped ZnO thin films were subjected to morphological analysis by
scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealing surfaces that were dense, homogeneous, and
smooth. The EDS analysis ident ified peaks associated with the elements zinc, oxygen,
magnesium, and sodium. Consequent ly, the composit ion of the thin films is validated, with the
optical transparency of ZnO films approximat ing 90% within the visible spectrum, owing to
their exceptional crystalline qualit y. The direct band gap varied from 3.22 to 3. 38 eV, whereas
FT-IR spectra confirm the presence of ZnO and the effect ive incorporation of magnesium and
sodium, corroborating the XRD findings. The analysis of photoluminescence mostly showed
emission peaks. The outcomes of photocatalysis have shown that the incorporation of
magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) into zinc oxide augments photocatalyt ic efficiency. The best
degradation of the dye methyl blue under UV irradiat ion attains 99.91% after 2 hours, using
thin layers of ZnO synt hesized with methanol solvent and doped with 9% Mg. The inclusion
of doping increases electrical conduct ivit y levels. Magnesium and sodium doping provide
enhanced structural and electrical characterist ics relat ive to elemental silver.