Water based simple synthesis of re-dispersible silver nano-particles

Plasmon Mediated Photocatalysis by Solar Active Ag/ZnO Nanostructures: Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Aqueous Conditions

“…Obtained XRD patterns of the ZnO and ZnO/Ag particles are shown in Figure 2a. (103), (200), (112), (201), and (202) crystal planes of the hexagonal ZnO structure [22]. The same peaks appear in the XRD pattern of Ag/ZnO, indicating there are no structural changes due to silver doping however, pattern also shows peaks for fcc Ag.…”

“…Mondal [34] et al studied the direct sunlight performance of ZnO photocatalysts by doping it with Au by monitoring a spectrum of dyes, but efficiency of degradation was not attractive. Zhang [22] et al synthesized highly crystalline micro porous ZnO using starch as surfactant showing excellent catalytic properties under UV radiation. The studies demonstrated that, high oxygen content in semiconductor can improve the visible light photocatalytic properties of semiconductor [2].…”

“…Though one pot synthesis of the Ag/ZnO is reported, still precipitation of Ag nanoparticles on the surface can be considered as an excellent option since it will facilitate control over the amount of silver particles. The authors have earlier demonstrated synthesis and applications of ZnO, TiO 2 and silver nano-particles and herewith extending their efforts in photocatalysis [22].…”

“…Interestingly, it has been observed that there is a minor red shift in 2 theta values for ZnO peaks due to presence of silver (Figure 2b), possibly due to intera-ction of silver with ZnO matrix by the formation of Schottky junction [36]. The size of the nanoparticles was estimated by DebyeScherrer equation [22] and was found to be 21.6 nm. The increase in crystalline size of Ag/ZnO was only marginal but can be attributed to the addition of Ag particles to the matrix [37].…”

“…It has been reported that polymeric nature of starch acts as a template for the formation of highly crystalline nanoparticles as it is a green precursor and offers economically viable option for production of ZnO [22][23][24][25].…”