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American Chemical Society, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 51(117), p. 27023-27030, 2013

DOI: 10.1021/jp410063p

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Biogenic Synthesis, Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Performance of Ag-ZnO Nanocomposite

This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

The development of coupled photoactive materials (metal/semiconductor) has resulted in significant advancements in heterogeneous visible light photocatalysis. This paper reports the novel biogenic synthesis of visible light active Ag-ZnO nanocomposite for photocatalysis and photoelectrode using an electrochemically active biofilm (EAB). The results showed that the EAB functioned as a biogenic reducing tool for the reduction of Ag+, thereby eliminating the need for conventional reducing agents. The as-prepared Ag-ZnO nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The photocatalytic experiments showed that the Ag-ZnO nanocomposite possessed excellent visible light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange, methylene blue and 4-nitrophenol. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and linear scan voltammetry under dark and visible light irradiation confirmed the enhanced visible light activity of the Ag-ZnO as photocatalyst and photoelectrode. These results suggest that Ag nanoparticles induced visible light photocatalytic degradation and enhanced the visible light activity of the photoelectrodes by minimizing the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes, thereby extending the response of pure ZnO to visible light.