Solar active Ag/ZnO nanostructured arrays obtained by a combination of electrochemical and chemical methods

Abstract

The work is devoted to the creation and research of solar active Ag/ZnO nanostructured arrays obtained by a combination of electrochemical and chemical methods. In order to enhance a solar activity of the electrodeposited in a pulsed mode nanostructured zinc oxide arrays and Ag/ZnO nanocomposites thereon we analyzed morphology, structure, electrical, electronic and optical properties of the electroplated 1-D ZnO as well as Ag nanoparticles, deposited from silver sol and Ag/ZnO nanocomposites formed by applying Ag nanoparticles to the ZnO surface. The investigated electrical and electronic parameters of ZnO and Ag/ZnO, which we obtained from their current–voltage and capacitance–voltage characteristics, are the electrical resistivity ρ, the height φ of the Schottky barriers in the electron depletion regions, the concentration of the fully ionized donor impurity Nd, the density NSS of surface states and the width of the electron depletion region ω. The improved UV sensitivity of the electrodeposited in the pulsed mode 1-D ZnO and enhanced solar activity of Ag/ZnO were valued by dark and light current–voltage characteristics and through their temporal response curves under the influence of UV and visible sunlight. Analysis of electronic and electrical parameters, response and recovery performance of the obtained 1-D ZnO arrays and Ag/ZnO nanocomposites thereon let us to select the optimum manufacturing conditions for the creation of solar active plasmonic Ag/ZnO nanostructured arrays with high photosensitivity, fast response and reset times, and reproducible characteristics. So, our studies have allowed the development of a new solar active Ag/ZnO material for photocatalytic oxidation–reduction processes that can be used as photoelectrode for photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminations or for green hydrogen production by water splitting.