HVHC-ESD-Induced Oxygen Vacancies: An Insight into the Phenomena of Interfacial Interactions of Nanostructure Oxygen Vacancy Sites with Oxygen Ion-Containing Organic Compounds

Abstract

The challenging environmental chemical and microbial pollution has always caused issues for human life. This article investigates the detailed mechanism of photodegradation and antimicrobial activity of oxide semiconductors and realizes the interface phenomena of nanostructures with toxins and bacteria. We demonstrate how oxygen vacancies in nanostructures affect photodegradation and antimicrobial behavior. Additionally, a novel method with a simple, tunable, and cost-effective synthesis of nanostructures for such applications is introduced to resolve environmental issues. The high-voltage, high-current electrical switching discharge (HVHC-ESD) system is a novel method that allows on-the-spot sub-second synthesis of nanostructures on top and in the water for wastewater decontamination. Experiments are done on rhodamine B as a common dye in wastewater to understand its photocatalytic degradation mechanism. Moreover, the antimicrobial mechanism of oxide semiconductors synthesized by the HVHC-ESD method with oxygen vacancies is realized on methicillin-and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains. The results yield new insights into how oxygen ions in dyes and bacterial walls interact with the surface of ZnO with high oxygen vacancy, which results in breaking of the chemical structure of dyes and bacterial walls. This interaction leads to degradation of organic dyes and bacterial inactivation.

Stretchable and Flexible Metal–Semiconductor–Metal UV Photodetector Based on Silver-Doped ZnO Nanostructures Using a Drop-Casting Method

“…Over the past few decades, numerous studies have emphasized the physiochemical stability and ease of availability of metal oxide semiconductors. − Amid these materials, zinc oxide as a wide band gap (3.3 eV) semiconductor with optical properties similar to GaN and large exciton binding (60 meV) is a great candidate for short-wavelength optoelectronics devices. − Bottom-up engineering of textured nanostructure blade-coated ZnO thin films on low-cost substrates is commonly eye-catching because of the exceptional oxygen physisorption and photodesorption behavior on their surface and light trapping capabilities in UV detection applications. Soci et al reported that ZnO nanorods exhibit high internal photoconductive gain and superior photoresponsivity under UV exposure compared to their bulk counterparts .…”