Synthesis of ZnO@Ag dumbbells for highly efficient visible-light photocatalysts
| Autor: | Vidhu Malik, Siddharth Choudhary, S. Annapoorni, Rajamani Nagarajan, Vishnu Kumar, Rakesh Malik |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Nanocomposite
Materials science Nanostructure Nanoparticle chemistry.chemical_element 02 engineering and technology Zinc 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Condensed Matter Physics 01 natural sciences Catalysis Chemical engineering chemistry Absorption band 0103 physical sciences Photocatalysis General Materials Science 010306 general physics 0210 nano-technology Visible spectrum |
| Zdroj: | Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal. 32(40) |
| ISSN: | 1361-648X |
| Popis: | The photocatalytic activity (PCA) of ZnO@Ag nanocomposites for different concentrations of Ag is reported. Dumbbells shaped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures with silver (Ag) nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple chemical colloidal method. The as synthesized nanocomposites (without any heat treatment) were used for optical and photocatalytic studies. The FESEM analysis shows that the composite catalysts are composed of ZnO dumbbells coated with spherical Ag nanoparticles. UV-visible spectrum of ZnO@Ag photocatalysts shows a strong absorption band of ZnO at 380 nm with a plasmonic peak of Ag at 440 nm. The PL emission intensity of the composites varies with Ag concentration and has a minimum for the catalyst containing 13.7% of Ag. A possible growth mechanism of ZnO nanostructures with hexagonal cross-section has been proposed. Photocatalytic property of the as synthesized ZnO and ZnO@Ag catalysts was studied by investigating the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye on exposure to UV-visible radiation. A relatively faster degradation of the dye was observed for ZnO@Ag composites as compared to pure ZnO, showing an improved photocatalytic behavior in the visible region. We proposed a possible mechanism for the enhancement in photocatalytic activity of Ag coated ZnO photocatalysts. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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