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Many strategies have been adopted to improve the photoinduced features of zinc oxide nanostructures for different application fields. In this work, zinc oxide has been synthesised and decorated by plasmonic metal nanoparticles to enhance its photocatalytic activity in the visible range. Furthermore, an insulating layer of SiO2 has been grown between the surface of zinc oxide nanoflakes and silver nanoparticles. A synthetic procedure that allows the accurate modulation of the insulating layer thickness in the range 5–40 nm has been developed. Evidences highlight the crucial role of the SiO2 layer in dramatically increasing photocatalytic water oxidation promoted by the nanostructure under both UV and visible illumination. An ideal thickness value of about 10 nm has been demonstrated to guarantee the plasmon‐induced resonance energy‐transfer process and to quench the Förster resonance energy‐transfer mechanism; thus, optimising the local surface plasmon resonance effect and water oxidation properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the presence of numerous xenobiotic substances, such as antibiotics, has been detected in water environments. They can be considered as environmental contaminants, even if their effect on human health has yet to be totally understood. Several approaches have been studied for the removal of these kinds of pollutants. Among these compounds, tetracycline (TC), a broad-spectrum antibiotic, is one of the most commonly found in water due to its widespread use. In the context of reducing the presence of TC in aqueous solution, in this contribution, a composite catalyst based on zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron oxide (γ-Fe2O3) was developed and its photocatalytic properties were investigated. The catalytic materials were synthesized by a microwave-assisted aqueous solution method and characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Brunauer−Emmett−Teller (BET) analysis. The TC concentration was evaluated by spectrophotometer measurements at specific time intervals. The performed photocatalytic experiments clearly demonstrated that the ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 composite catalyst presents significant photocatalytic activity, indeed a TC degradation efficiency of 88.52% was registered after 150 min. The presence of iron oxide in the structure of the catalyst enhances both the surface area and the pore volume, facilitating the adsorption of the analyte on the surface of nanostructures, a fundamental phase to optimize a photodegradation process. Moreover, ZnO was found to play the key role in the photocatalytic process assisted by γ-Fe2O3 which enhanced the TC degradation efficiency by 20%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]