Abstract
Water pollution caused by organic compounds, generated from different industries, has gained attention worldwide today. In this regard, significant efforts have been made for a suitable dye degradation technology. Zinc oxide (ZnO)–based photocatalysts are considered novel materials to degrade organic effluents in contaminated water. The facile synthesis of Ag/ZnO nanocomposites and its application for the enhanced degradation of indigo carmine (IC) dye under visible light irradiation is reported in this paper. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized using various analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy, FTIR, Raman, impedance study, UV–Vis, and photoluminescence (PL). Prepared Ag/ZnO nanocomposites were tested for degradation of IC dye in visible light. The degradation efficiency of IC dye was found to be 95.71% in 120 min, with a rate constant of 0.02021 min−1. This improved photocatalytic activity of Ag/ZnO nanocomposites was mainly due to the absorption of visible light caused by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) derived from Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and electron–hole separation. Radical trapping experiments suggest that holes (h+) and superoxide radical (O2•–) are the key factors in photocatalytic IC dye degradation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data and materials in this study are included in this article.
References
Ahmad I, Ahmed E, Ahmad M (2019) The excellent photocatalytic performances of silver doped ZnO nanoparticles for hydrogen evolution. SN Appl Sci 1:327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-0331-9
Bueno-Alejo CJ, Graus J, Arenal R et al (2021) Anisotropic Au-ZnO photocatalyst for the visible-light expanded oxidation of n-hexane. Catal Today 362:97–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2020.03.063
Chaudhary A, Malik P, Mehra R, Raina KK (2013) Influence of ZnO nanoparticle concentration on electro-optic and dielectric properties of ferroelectric liquid crystal mixture. J Mol Liq 188:230–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2013.09.020
Chauhan A, Verma R, Kumari S et al (2020) Photocatalytic dye degradation and antimicrobial activities of pure and Ag-doped ZnO using Cannabis sativa leaf extract. Sci Rep 10:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64419-0
Chelli VR, Golder AK (2018) Ag-doping on ZnO support mediated by bio-analytes rich in ascorbic acid for photocatalytic degradation of dipyrone drug. Elsevier Ltd
Chen X, Wu Z, Liu D, Gao Z (2017) Preparation of ZnO photocatalyst for the efficient and rapid photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes. Nanoscale Res Lett 12:143. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-017-1904-4
Chitradevi T, Jestin Lenus A, Victor Jaya N (2019) Structure, morphology and luminescence properties of sol-gel method synthesized pure and Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles. Mater Res Express 7.https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ab5c53
Dridi D, Bouaziz L, Karyaoui M et al (2018) Effect of silver doping on optical and electrochemical properties of ZnO photoanode. J Mater Sci Mater Electron 29:8267–8278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-8835-4
Elango G, Roopan SM (2016) Efficacy of SnO2 nanoparticles toward photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye. J Photochem Photobiol B Biol 155:34–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2015.12.010
Gao P, Ng K, Sun DD (2013) Sulfonated graphene oxide–ZnO–Ag photocatalyst for fast photodegradation and disinfection under visible light. J Hazard Mater 262:826–835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.09.055
Gayathri1 S, Sivaraman O, Ghosh1 N et al (2015) Investigation of physicochemical properties of Ag doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by chemical route. Appl Sci Lett 1:8–13
Georgekutty R, Seery MK, Pillai SC (2008) A highly efficient Ag-ZnO photocatalyst: synthesis, properties, and mechanism. J Phys Chem C 112:13563–13570. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp802729a
Guo Q, Zhou C, Ma Z, Yang X (2019) Fundamentals of TiO2 photocatalysis: concepts, mechanisms, and challenges. Adv Mater 31:1–26. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201901997
Janbandhu SY, CT S, Munishwar SR, et al (2022) Borosilicate glasses containing CdS/ZnS QDs: a heterostructured composite with enhanced degradation of IC dye under visible-light. Chemosphere 286:131672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131672
Janbandhu SY, Joshi A, Munishwar SR, Gedam RS (2019) CdS/TiO2 heterojunction in glass matrix: synthesis, characterization, and application as an improved photocatalyst. Appl Surf Sci 497:143758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.143758
Janbandhu SY, Munishwar SR, Gedam RS (2018) Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic degradation efficiency of CdS quantum dots embedded in sodium borosilicate glasses. Appl Surf Sci 449:221–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.02.065
Janbandhu SY, Munishwar SR, Sukhadeve GK, Gedam RS (2019b) Effect of annealing time on optical properties of CdS QDs containing glasses and their application for degradation of methyl orange dye. Mater Charact 152:230–238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2019.04.027
Jaramillo-Páez CA, Navío JA, Hidalgo MC, Macías M (2018) ZnO and Pt-ZnO photocatalysts: characterization and photocatalytic activity assessing by means of three substrates. Catal Today 313:12–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2017.12.009
Kumari V, Yadav S, Mittal A et al (2020) Surface plasmon response of Pd deposited ZnO/CuO nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic efficacy towards the degradation of organic pollutants. Inorg Chem Commun 121:108241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inoche.2020.108241
Lee KM, Lai CW, Ngai KS, Juan JC (2016) Recent developments of zinc oxide based photocatalyst in water treatment technology: a review. Water Res 88:428–448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.09.045
Lellis B, Fávaro-Polonio CZ, Pamphile JA, Polonio JC (2019) Effects of textile dyes on health and the environment and bioremediation potential of living organisms. Biotechnol Res Innov 3:275–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biori.2019.09.001
Li J, Liu F, Li Y (2018) Fabrication of an Ag/Ag2MoO4 plasmonic photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic performance for the degradation of ciprofloxacin. New J Chem 42:12054–12061. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8NJ02327A
Li S, Cai J, Wu X, Zheng F (2018) Sandwich-like TiO2@ZnO-based noble metal (Ag, Au, Pt, or Pd) for better photo-oxidation performance: synergistic effect between noble metal and metal oxide phases. Appl Surf Sci 443:603–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.03.017
Liu H, Hu Y, Zhang Z et al (2015) Synthesis of spherical Ag/ZnO heterostructural composites with excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light and UV irradiation. Appl Surf Sci 355:644–652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.07.012
Liu P, Yi J, Bao R, Fang D (2019) A flower-like Zn3V2O8/Ag composite with enhanced visible light driven photocatalytic activity: the triple-functional roles of Ag nanoparticles. New J Chem 43:7482–7490. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9nj00211a
Lu F, Wang J, Chang Z, Zeng J (2019) Uniform deposition of Ag nanoparticles on ZnO nanorod arrays grown on polyimide/Ag nanofibers by electrospinning, hydrothermal, and photoreduction processes. Mater Des 181:108069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2019.108069
Lupan O, Chow L, Ono LK et al (2010) Synthesis and characterization of Ag- or Sb-doped ZnO nanorods by a facile hydrothermal route. J Phys Chem C 114:12401–12408. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp910263n
Nagaraju G, Udayabhanu S et al (2017) Electrochemical heavy metal detection, photocatalytic, photoluminescence, biodiesel production and antibacterial activities of Ag–ZnO nanomaterial. Mater Res Bull 94:54–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2017.05.043
Nosaka Y, Nosaka AY (2017) Generation and detection of reactive oxygen species in photocatalysis. Chem Rev 117:11302–11336. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00161
Patil SS, Mali MG, Tamboli MS et al (2016) Green approach for hierarchical nanostructured Ag-ZnO and their photocatalytic performance under sunlight. Catal Today 260:126–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2015.06.004
Raji R, Sibi KS, Gopchandran KG (2018) ZnO: Ag nanorods as efficient photocatalysts: sunlight driven photocatalytic degradation of sulforhodamine B. Appl Surf Sci 427:863–875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.09.050
Raza W, Haque MM, Muneer M, Bahnemann D (2019) Synthesis of visible light driven TiO2 coated carbon nanospheres for degradation of dyes. Arab J Chem 12:3534–3545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2015.09.002
R Sánchez Zeferino M Barboza Flores U Pal 2011 Photoluminescence and Raman scattering in Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles J Appl Phys 109.https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3530631
Saravanan R, Mansoob Khan M, Gupta VK et al (2015) ZnO/Ag/CdO nanocomposite for visible light-induced photocatalytic degradation of industrial textile effluents. J Colloid Interface Sci 452:126–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2015.04.035
Sarma B, Sarma BK (2017) Fabrication of Ag/ZnO heterostructure and the role of surface coverage of ZnO microrods by Ag nanoparticles on the photophysical and photocatalytic properties of the metal-semiconductor system. Appl Surf Sci 410:557–565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.03.154
Sawant SY, Kim JY, Han TH et al (2018) Electrochemically active biofilm-assisted biogenic synthesis of an Ag-decorated ZnO@C core-shell ternary plasmonic photocatalyst with enhanced visible-photocatalytic activity. New J Chem 42:1995–2005. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7nj03936k
Sukhadeve G, Shaileshkumar JY et al (2021) Ag-doped TiO 2 nanoparticles as an effective photocatalyst for degradation of indigo carmine dye under visible light. ChemistrySelect 6:12873–12883. https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.202103629
Sukhadeve GK, Janbandhu SY, Kumar R et al (2022) Visible light assisted photocatalytic degradation of indigo carmine dye and NO2 removal by Fe doped TiO2 nanoparticles. Ceram Int. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2022.05.053
Sukhadeve GK, Janbandhu SY, Upadhyay S, Gedam RS (2022) Investigation of photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by sol–gel technique. J Aust Ceram Soc 58:39–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41779-021-00658-2
Sun F, Qiao X, Tan F et al (2012) One-step microwave synthesis of Ag/ZnO nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic performance. J Mater Sci 47:7262–7268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-012-6676-8
Udayabhaskar R, Mangalaraja RV, Karthikeyan B (2015) Enhanced fluorescence, Raman scattering, and higher order Raman modes in ZnO: Ag nanorods. Plasmonics 10:893–899. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-015-9877-6
Xin Z, Li L, Zhang X, Zhang W (2018) Microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of chrysanthemum-like Ag/ZnO prismatic nanorods and their photocatalytic properties with multiple modes for dye degradation and hydrogen production. RSC Adv 8:6027–6038. https://doi.org/10.1039/C7RA12097D
Zhang R, Yin P-G, Wang N, Guo L (2009) Photoluminescence and Raman scattering of ZnO nanorods. Solid State Sci 11:865–869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2008.10.016
Zhang X, Wang Y, Hou F et al (2017) Effects of Ag loading on structural and photocatalytic properties of flower-like ZnO microspheres. Appl Surf Sci 391:476–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.06.109
Zhang X, Zhao J, Wang S et al (2014) Shape-dependent localized surface plasmon enhanced photocatalytic effect of ZnO nanorods decorated with Ag. Int J Hydrogen Energy 39:8238–8245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.03.153
Acknowledgements
RK gratefully acknowledges the Director VNIT, Nagpur, for providing the financial support. The authors express sincere thanks to DST-FIST, New Delhi (GOI), for instrumentation facility under the FIST program (No. SR/FST/PSI/2017/5(C)). We are also thankful to the CeNS Bengaluru who generously made HRTEM characterization available in the facility to undertake this work. Our thanks are also extended to the Department of Physics, R.T.M. Nagpur University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Rahul Kumar: methodology, formal analysis, investigation, visualization, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing. Shaileshkumar Y. Janbandhu: conceptualization, methodology, and formal analysis. Gaurav K. Sukhadeve: resources, writing – review and editing. Rupesh S. Gedam: conceptualization, investigation, resources, writing – review and editing, and supervision.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
The manuscript is not submitted to any other journal.
Consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
The submitted work is original.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Sami Rtimi
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kumar, R., Janbandhu, S.Y., Sukhadeve, G.K. et al. Visible light assisted surface plasmon resonance triggered Ag/ZnO nanocomposites: synthesis and performance towards degradation of indigo carmine dye. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 98619–98631 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22745-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22745-y