Silver photo-deposition on ZnO nanorods grown on Zn substrate and study of their optical and photocatalytic properties

Nowadays, wastewater produced by industries becomes one of the most crucial environmental challenges. Due to significance of water treatment numerous researches have been done to address this issue. In this study, it was tried to present a new method for synthesizing highly photo catalytically active silver nanoparticle decorated zinc oxide nanorods (Ag/ZnO NRs). ZnO nanorods were successfully synthesized on zinc foil through a facile hydrothermal method and then Ag nanoparticles were prepared directly on the surface by photodeposition method. The structural, morphology and optical properties of the as-synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy respectively. The Results showed that the fabricated films have nanorod morphology. UV-visible spectra showed an increase in the visible absorption relative to bare ZnO NRs sample. The photo-catalytic activity of prepared samples was evaluated by analyzing degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under Xe light illumination and it was observed that Ag nanoparticle decorated ZnO nanorods effectively affected on band gap energy of photo catalysts and showed significantly enhanced photo-catalytic activity for degradation of MB, as compared to bare ZnO NR. According to the obtained results, optimized Ag/ZnO nanoparticles degraded MB to 93% meanwhile amount of degradation by ZnO particles was approximately 23%.