Hydrothermal preparation of silver doping zinc oxide nanoparticles: Studys, characterization and photocatalytic activity

Abstract

In this study, we report the prepared of ZnO nanoparticles and Ag doped ZnO nanostructure via a hydrothermal process. The obtained nanostructures were characterized using different characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and UV/Visible spectrophotometer. The XRD results showed the wurtzite hexagonal structure of the ZnO Nanoparticles. Furthermore, the morphology of ZnO and Ag-ZnO nanostructures was obtained from SEM and AFM.The photocatalytic degradation of Cibacron Brilliant Yellow 3G-P (CB) dye was studied in presence of visible light using Ag-ZnO nanostructures as a photocatalyst.There are numerous factors which has an effect on the efficiency color removal of this process. Hence a study was conducted on the effect of several parameters on Ag-ZnO like amount of catalyst, CB dye concentration and pH of solution. Results showed Ag doping ZnO with 3% loading shows photocatalytic removal about 65% after 120 min. which influenced superior photocatalytic activity than pure ZnO.