Title
ZnO (Ag-N) nanorods films optimized for photocatalytic water purification
Date Issued
01 January 2019
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
MDPI AG
Abstract
ZnO nanorods (NRs) films, nitrogen-doped (ZnO:N), and ZnO doped with nitrogen and decorated with silver nanostructures (ZnO:N-Ag) NRs films were vertically supported on undoped and N doped ZnO seed layers by a wet chemical method. The obtained films were characterized structurally by X-ray diffraction. Morphological and elemental analysis was performed by scanning electron microscopy, including an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy facility and their optical properties by Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy. Analysis performed in the NRs films showed that the nitrogen content in the seed layer strongly affected their structure and morphology. The mean diameter of ZnO NRs ranged from 70 to 190 nm. As the nitrogen content in the seed layer increased, the mean diameter of ZnO:N NRs increased from132 to 250 nm and the diameter dispersion decreased. This diameter increase occurs simultaneously with the incorporation of nitrogen into the ZnO crystal lattice and the increase in the volume of the unit cell, calculated using the X-ray diffraction patterns and confirmed by a slight shift in the XRD angle. The diffractograms indicated that the NRs have a hexagonal wurtzite structure, with preferential growth direction along the c axis. The SEM images confirmed the presence of metallic silver in the form of nanoparticles dispersed on the NRs films. Finally, the degradation of methyl orange (MO) in an aqueous solution was studied by UV-vis irradiation of NRs films contained in the bulk of aqueous MO solutions. We found a significant enhancement of the photocatalytic degradation efficiency, with ZnO:N-Ag NRs film being more efficient than ZnO:N NRs film, and the latter better than the ZnO NRs film.
Volume
9
Issue
11
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Nano-materiales Ingeniería de materiales
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85075546032
Source
Coatings
ISSN of the container
20796412
Sponsor(s)
Funding: This research was funded by Peruvian National Fund for Scientific, Technological Development and Technological Innovation (FONDECYT), grant number 120-2018-FONDECYT Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Projects N◦ 223-2015-FONDECYT, 120-2018-FONDECYT, N◦ 113-INNOVATE PERU-ISASS-2018, and by PICT 2016-2386, ANPCyT, Argentina); The Authors also want to thanks the Vice-Rector for Research at UNI for funding the publication of this work.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus