Enhanced photocatalytic and SERS properties of ZnO/Ag hierarchical multipods-shaped nanocomposites

Hierarchical ZnO and ZnO/Ag multipods-shaped nanocomposites were synthesized by hydrothermal method employing sea urchin-like ZnOHF nanostructures. Various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques were employed to characterize the nanocomposites. As zinc source, the usage of ZnOHF played a key role in controlling the morphologies and properties of the multipods-shaped nanocomposites. Photocatalytic degradation results showed that ZnO/Ag multipods-shaped nanocomposites exhibited an excellent photocatalytic activity in degrading rhodamine B (RB) dye under UV-visible light irradiation compared with that of ZnO nanomultipods. Such enhanced photocatalytic property opened a new way to prepare novel self-cleaning Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates. The SERS experiments showed that ZnO/Ag multipods-shaped nanocomposites possessed high SERS sensitivity and reproducibility for four organic dyes after several self-cleaning cycles.