Enhanced photocatalytic activity of metal coated ZnO nanowires

A simple, facile and template free route has been described for the synthesis of ZnO nanowires. The morphology and structure of ZnO nanowires have been tuned by deposing silver and gold onto the surface of ZnO nanowire and this has been done by adding AgNO3 and HAuCl4 to aqueous suspension of ZnO. Our synthesized Ag and Au coated ZnO nanoparticles show different emissive property than the native ZnO nanowires. The photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue is also evaluated using ZnO and Ag and Au coated ZnO nanowires. It has been observed that Ag coated ZnO nano-needles exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic efficiency compare to ZnO nanowire and Au coated ZnO nano-leaves. Fluorescence spectra and surface structure of the samples with their photocatalytic activity indicates that surface deposited metal serves as an electron sinks to enhance the separation of photoinduced electrons from holes, leading to the formation of OH and it enhances their photocatalytic efficiency.

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► A simple but novel approach to synthesize Ag and Au coated ZnO nanoparticles.
► Excitonic and green emission of ZnO decreases as it is coated with Ag/Au.
► Photobleaching rate of MB increases in the presence of Ag coated ZnO than native ZnO.