Synthesis and characterization of plasmonic visible active Ag/ZnO photocatalyst

Abstract

Ag deposited ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized by simple sol–gel method for visible light active photocatalytic application. X-ray diffraction (XRD), TEM, UV–DRS and PL studies have been used to characterize the photocatalyst. The results show that Ag/ZnO NPs are wurtzite phase (WZ) of ZnO with Ag NPs in the surface region forming a hetero-interface of Ag–WZ (ZnO). Visible light activity of the material has been studied using photocatalytic degradation kinetics of methylene blue as a probe pollutant. Ag/ZnO NPs exhibit five times higher visible-light driven photocatalytic activity than pristine ZnO and four times than the reference Degussa P-25, under identical conditions. The high visible activity of Ag/ZnO may be attributed to the surface plasmon effect complemented sensitization in the presence of metallic Ag and effective charge separation through Ag–WZ hetero-interfaces.