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[Display omitted] • Pristine and Mo-doped (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 %) NiO regular nanoparticles have been synthesized successfully. • Drastic reduction in band gap occurs from 3.5 eV to 2.9 eV at 3 wt% Mo occurs owing to average crystallite size decrease from 67 nm to 44 nm. • The sample containing 3 wt% Mo doped NiO showed highest efficiency (90% degradation) for MB dye, whereas with RhB dye it shows 98% degradation. • The PL analysis revealed that the Molybdenum substitution in NiO host lattice specifically reduces the recombination rate with an improved photo-efficiency. • The reaction kinetics examination showed pseudo-first-order kinetics with an improved rate constant. Semiconductor materials are in leading role for elimination of organic pollutants in water with an effective tuning of bandgap and improving their photocatalytic activity. Pristine and Mo-doped (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 %) NiO nanoparticles have been synthesized by sol–gel method. The synthesized nanoparticles were examined by XRD, SEM, EDS, UV–visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) analysis. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibit spherical morphology and their crystallite size decreases with an increase in Mo concentration. The average crystallite size decreases from 67 nm to 44 nm and the drastic reduction in band gap occurs from 3.5 eV to 2.9 eV at 3 wt% Mo doping. The photocatalytic activity against Rhodamine-B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB) showed that the Molybdenum doping improves the performance of NiO photocatalyst. The PL analysis revealed that the Molybdenum substitution in NiO host lattice specifically reduces the recombination rate with an improved photo-efficiency. The reaction kinetics examination showed pseudo-first-order kinetics with an improved rate constant. The sample containing 3 wt% Mo doped NiO showed highest efficiency among all the prepared samples. The sample with 3 wt% doping shows 90% degradation after 90 min when using against MB dye, whereas with RhB dye it shows 98% degradation in 120 min. The retention of high performance after five consecutive cycles confirms the reusability of synthesized nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • TiO 2 nanoparticles have been synthesized by green synthesis technique using Citrus Limetta extract. • The citric acid present within the extract acted as reducing and capping agent for nanoparticles synthesis. • TiO nanoparticles are of spherical shape with size ranging from 80 to 100 nm confirmed by SEM and TEM. • Photocatalytic performance of the TiO 2 nanoparticles was studied w.r.t time and catalyst concentration. • Excellent performance for RhB dye degradation showed that it can be potential candidate for water purification. In this research work, TiO 2 nanoparticles has been prepared by eco-friendly green synthesis technique using Citrus Limetta extract which is rarely used. The citric acid present within the extract acted as reducing and capping agent for nanoparticles resulting pure TiO 2 nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles are characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) analysis. The synthesized nanoparticles are approximately 80–100 nm in size, spherical in shape and distribution of the nanoparticles was almost uniform all over the sample. The calculated band gap of nanoparticles was 3.22 eV which confirmed the formation of anatase phase TiO 2 nanoparticles. The enhanced photocatalytic activity with respect to time and catalyst concentration was examined for RhB acting as a model dye which is better than many reported results. Almost 90% dye was degraded within 80 min which shows its excellent photocatalytic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Doping of transition-metals i.e. chromium in CdS 1D nanoneedles. • First study about the Cr-effect on optical and magnetic properties of 1D Cr-doped CdS nanoneedles. • Role of Cr in CdS nanoneedles for tunable emission. • Detection of luminescence related to chromium for the first time. • Chromium incorporated into CdS nanoneedles produced emission in the infrared region. • Cr-doped CdS nanoneedles showed ferromagnetism. Spin controlled diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) could bring revolution in the processing speed as well as in enhancing the storage capacity. To achieve its industrial application, several impurities have been doped from the 3d/4f into semiconductors, however, Cr has not yet been doped into CdS 1D nanostructures. Here, in the present study, we report on the Cr-doped CdS 1D nanoneedles synthesized by CVD and studied its optical and magnetic properties. The successful incorporation of Cr-ions into CdS confirmed by EDX and XRD. Along with the increase in Cr-ions concentration, first PL-peak shifted from 514.1 to 558.3 nm associated with the formation of excitonic magnetic polarons (EMPs) and the second peak centered at 993.8 nm may correspond to the aggregation of Cr-ions. For the first time, we tuned CdS emission up to ~ 482 nm covering visible spectral region up to near-infrared (NIR) region. With increasing the Cr-ions concentration up to 6.2%, saturation magnetization (Ms) was significantly enhanced from 0.614 × 10−3 Am2/kg to 0.987 × 10−3 Am2/kg. These findings will promote their future applications in the optoelectronic and spintronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CuS hierarchical micro structures were synthesized using solvothermal technique through mixed solvents. • Solvent play a crucial role in governing growth and determining the final morphology of the CuS architectures. • The prepared sample showed excellent efficiency towards photocatalysis applications. A variety of high-quality, shape and size consistent nanostructures of copper sulfide (CuS) in the form of hierarchical architectures composed of intersecting nano-sheets have been fabricated via mixed solvent route. Copper chloride and thiourea have been utilized as precursors for copper and sulfur sources for each experimentation in the presence of a variety of mixed solvents to obtain various morphologies of CuS. The prepared products have been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and all of the synthesized products have been investigated to be the phase pure single crystalline. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed the well-ordered and isolated particles. The Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) spectrum further proved that the obtained products in all of the synthetic processes don't contain any kind of impurity. Ultraviolet– visible–near infrared (UV–vis–NIR) transmittance spectrophotometer has been utilized to ascertain the optical properties of the as prepared nanostructures. An extended U.V absorption in near-IR region, indicate the covellite phase of CuS. Most importantly, the synthesized nanostructures demonstrated an excellent photo-catalyst response in degrading highly concentrated rhodamine B (RhB) dye aqueous solutions under visible light irradiation along with an excellent reusability, suggesting a promising application in wastewater purification. The excellent photo-catalytic activity has been attributed to surface hierarchical structure with good absorbing and adsorbing properties, high visible light utilization and low electron hole recombination rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C 3 N 4) have been synthesized by hydrothermal method. • Role of g-C 3 N 4 photo-catalytic degrade MO, MB and Rh-B have been studied. • The temperature efficiency of MO 92%, MB 91.1% and Rh-B 83%. • The dye efficiency of MO 97.3%, MB 86% and Rh-B 99.6%. Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C 3 N 4) have been synthesized through melamine by using hydrothermal method. In this paper work degradation organic dyes used such as MB, MO and Rh-B are used for water purification. Remarkably, it has been studied that the synthesis of (g-C 3 N 4) along with factors of dye loading and temperature variation manipulating the photo-degradation process. We have prepared the g-C 3 N 4 by hydrothermal method using a wide ranging of characterization techniques such as SEM, EDX, TEM, XRD, FTIR, UV, XPS and CV. The SEM morphology of g-C 3 N 4 like nano spheres shapes are observed. EDX analysis are observed two peaks nitrogen and carbon. UV–visible analysis for the band gap calculated value is 2.74 eV. XRD observed the peak 27.9° that the hexagonal phase structure with the miller indices (0 0 2). FTIR analysis the functional groups. CV studied for the specific capacitance. Furthermore, we have studied the efficiencies in these organic dyes MO 97.3%, MB 91.1% and Rh-B 99.6%. These efficiencies was obtained vary the dye loading. Hence, g-C 3 N 4 can be well-thought-out as a potential candidate these pollutants as MO, MB and Rh-B for the water purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The BiFeO 3 nano-beads were synthesized by sol–gel extended hydrothermal route. • The BiFeO 3 nano-beads exhibited excellent photocatalytic and photo-electrochemical (PEC) properties for enhanced degradation of methylene blue and H 2 production under natural light irradiation. • The PEC properties of the prepared photo-anodes were analyzed with EIS and CA. • Electron transfer of the charge carriers and transient photo-current response were enhanced for BiFeO 3 nano-beads. The synthesized BiFeO 3 has low cost, distinctive structure, large specific surface area, and outstanding electrical and mechanical properties, making it stable, non-toxic, and cost-effective material that can be used in photocatalytic applications. Here, we report the successful synthesis of a pure-phase BiFeO 3 nano-beads through a well-controlled sol–gel extended hydrothermal strategy. The structural, morphological, and optical properties of as-prepared BiFeO 3 nano-beads were studied by X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared (UV–vis–NIR) transmittance spectrophotometer. It was observed that BiFeO 3 nano-beads exhibit strong absorption in the UV and visible light region and the corresponding lowest band gap has been estimated to be 2.13 eV. The photo-electrochemical (PEC) properties of the prepared photo-anodes were analyzed with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and chronoamperometry analysis (CA). Electron transfer of the charge carriers and transient photo-current response were enhanced for BiFeO 3 nano-beads as studied by EIS and CA. The as-prepared BiFeO 3 nano-beads showed excellent photocatalytic and photo-electrochemical (PEC) properties for enhanced degradation of methylene blue (MB) and hydrogen evolution activity (14.7 mmol g−1 h−1) in the presence of Platinum as co-catalyst were carried out under natural light irradiation at ambient temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]