Rapid and low temperature synthesis of Ag nanoparticles on the ZnO nanorods for photocatalytic activity improvement

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the potential semiconductors for photocatalytic applications. However, ZnO has a high recombination rate between electrons and holes, which reduces the efficiency of its photocatalytic activity. Thus, a nanohybrid structure between ZnO and a noble metal, such as Ag, has been proposed because it is cost effective, is chemically stable, and has enhanced photocatalytic activity. In general, ZnO/Ag nanohybrids are not easily synthesized due to the self-nucleation of Ag NPs during the deposition on ZnO. In this study, the Ag nanoparticles were deposited on the ZnO nanorods (NRs) prepared on glass substrate by using the facile and rapid hydrothermal method at low temperature 80 °C for 90 min. The result analysis shows that the Ag nanoparticles deposition process did not change the morphological and microstructural properties of the ZnO NRs. The Ag NPs with the diameter range of 10–20 nm spread uniformly on the surface of the ZnO NRs. The photodegradation efficiency of methyl blue using the ZnO/Ag nanohybrids was higher than pure ZnO NRs. The ease of electron transfer between the ZnO and the Ag NPs was a major cause of the increased photocatalytic activity in both UV and visible-light irradiation. Keywords: ZnO/Ag, Nanohybrids, Hydrothermal, Photocatalytic, Recombination