Photocatalytic Degradation of Malachite Green Using Nickel–Cerium Coloaded ZnO under Sustainable Sunlight Irradiation and Its Biological Implications

Nanoparticles of ZnO and nickel–cerium-loaded ZnO photocatalysts, at varied weight portions, were synthesized by coprecipitation method. The resulting photocatalysts have been assessed by employing Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), UV–vis–diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The generation of the hexagonal wurtzite polycrystalline structure of ZnO with good crystallinity is confirmed by XRD patterns. The results of XRD and EDX confirmed the presence of ZnO by nickel and cerium. The particle size was analyzed by SEM analysis. The photocatalytic capacity of ZnO was highly improved by nickel and cerium. The band gap may also be significant for the better photodegradation performance of doped Ni–Ce–ZnO samples detected by UV-DRS and FT-IR, which revealed proper ZnO vibrations. Ni–Ce–ZnO serves as an effective photocatalyst, exhibiting in excess of 98% degradation of malachite green during 90 min under natural light.