Affiliation:
1. School of Physical Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017, P. R. China
2. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Solid State, Physics and Devices, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017, Xinjiang, P. R. China
Abstract
Zinc oxide (ZnO) has demonstrated significant potential as a photocatalyst for the wastewater treatment. However, its wide bandgap leads to inefficient light utilization and rapid carrier recombination, which inhibits its photocatalytic activity. To overcome these limitations, we employed a hydrothermal method to synthesize Ag/ZnO composite microspheres with different concentrations of Ag nanoparticles. By utilizing Ag complexed with ZnO, the Ag/ZnO composite photocatalysts were made to have a narrower bandgap and a broadened light response range, as well as the red-shift phenomenon at the absorption edge. In addition, Ag nanoparticles can act as electron traps to efficiently capture electrons and minimize the recombination of photoexcited carriers for improved photocatalytic performance. Compared with other concentrations of ZnO microspheres and pure ZnO microspheres, the 5% Ag/ZnO composite microspheres exhibited excellent degradation performance when exposed to a xenon lamp, with 90.1% degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) solution in 100[Formula: see text]min. Incorporating trapping agents in experimental studies has indicated that the RhB degradation process is significantly influenced by •O[Formula: see text], while the impact of •OH and h[Formula: see text] were relatively weak. Thus, Ag/ZnO nanocomposites hold great promise as materials for use in wastewater treatment.
Funder
Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Publisher
World Scientific Pub Co Pte Ltd