Photocatalytic Activity of Ag-ZnO Nanocomposites Integrated Essential Ginger Oil Fabricated by Green Synthesis Method

Abstract

Abstract Facile and eco-friendly green synthesis route was used to fabricate pure ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and silver doped ZnO nanocomposites (Ag-ZnO NCPs) using essential ginger oil (EGO) as reduction agent. These Ag-ZnO NCPs were determined and characterized via various analytical tools such as X-ray diffraction, FESEM, and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the crystallinity of single ZnO that showed a hexagonal wurtizite (HW) structure with preferential orientation in the (100) direction and the Ag NPs verified face center cubic (FCC) structure with preferred orientation in the (111) direction. The FESEM images exposed uniformly distributed triangle cages of ZnO NPs and nanowires shape of Ag-ZnO NCPs. The UV-Vis absorption band of as-synthesized Ag-ZnO NCPs showed sharp and minor peaks at 395 nm and 550 nm. Photocatalytic activity of Ag-ZnO NCPs was obtained through methylene orange (MO) dye degradation tests, which exhibited remarkable photodegradation efficiency around ≈ 90% after 150 min under UV light. In contrast, single ZnO revealed photodegradation efficiency ≈ 84% at 150 min UV light exposure. These Ag-ZnO NCPs can offer a great potential for large demands of semiconductor applications.