Recent progress on visible-light-driven metal and non-metal doped ZnO nanostructures for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants

Organic pollutants are chemical compounds that are resistant to degradation in the environment and that treatment methods may not be able to completely remove. Both animals and people may be harmed as a result of their presence. Photocatalysts made of metal oxide semiconductors have promise for environmental cleanup, fuel production from water splitting, and CO2 reduction. Because they are low-cost, non-toxic, and more effective in absorption over a large part of the solar spectrum, ZnO nanostructures are potential photocatalyst candidates for use in photodegradation. The goal of this study is to discuss organic pollutants, photodegradation processes, as well as current developments in ZnO nanostructured preparation methods, such as doping and modification methods, and ZnO as a photocatalyst improvement. When compared to pure ZnO, metal and non-metal doping show better physical and chemical characteristics. The use of different alkaline earth metals, transition metals, noble metals, rare earth metals, and non-metals for doping in the ZnO crystal lattice to create visible-light-responsive doped ZnO photocatalysts is discussed. The impact of dopant type, ionic size, and concentration on the crystal structure, electrical properties, and morphology of doped ZnO with a small bandgap is thoroughly examined. Furthermore, the study examined the effects of different experimental parameters and prospects and challenges have been reported on the degradation of organic pollutants.