Degradation of organic pollutants got more attention for detoxification of water. In this paper, pure and Zn-doped Cu₂O particles were successfully synthesized by water bath co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study confirmed the cubic structure of Cu₂O. Zn doping resulted in reduction in crystallite size without changing d-spacing and crystal structure. Zn doping converts perfect cube to distorted sphere with enhanced surface area that is effective for photocatalytic applications. Elemental study confirmed the uniform distribution of Cu, Zn, and O atoms in the sample. X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) analysis showed peak shift in the electronic states of O with higher oxygen vacancy defects. Band gap of Cu₂O after Zn doping increased from 1.84 to 1.91 eV. The photocatalytic activity towards methylene blue (MB) dye photodegradation under visible light reached 96% in 120 min after Zn doping compared to 95% in 180 min for pure Cu₂O. The improvement in photocatalytic degradation after Zn doping was achieved by the slow electron-hole recombination, band gap increases, oxygen vacancy defects, and higher surface area.

中文翻译：

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Zn掺杂在Cu ₂ O中改善光催化活性。

有机污染物的降解受到水的排毒越来越多的关注。本文通过水浴共沉淀法成功地合成了纯锌掺杂的Cu ₂ O颗粒。X射线衍射（XRD）研究证实了Cu ₂ O的立方结构。Zn掺杂导致微晶尺寸减小，而d间距和晶体结构不变。锌掺杂将完美的立方转变为具有增大的表面积的扭曲球体，对光催化应用有效。元素研究证实了样品中Cu，Zn和O原子的均匀分布。X射线光电子能谱（XPS）分析显示，氧空位缺陷较高的O的电子态出现峰位移。Cu _2的带隙锌掺杂后的O从1.84 eV增加到1.91 eV。Zn掺杂后120分钟内可见光对亚甲基蓝（MB）染料光降解的光催化活性达到90％，而纯Cu ₂ O则在180分钟内达到95％。通过慢速电子可提高Zn掺杂后光催化降解的能力-空穴复合，带隙增加，氧空位缺陷和更大的表面积。