Sonochemical fabrication, characterization and photocatalytic properties of Ag/ZnWO4 nanorod catalyst

A ZnWO4 nanocrystal catalyst with rod-like structure was first synthesized by powerful ultrasonic irradiation method at room temperature. Then, Ag was introduced to ZnWO4 nanorods by a photodeposited method. The as-synthesized Ag/ZnWO4 catalysts have been investigated by photocatalytic reaction tests and some physicochemical characterizations like XRD, BET, IR, TEM, EDX, XPS, PL, and UV–vis DRS. The results show that the prepared samples have good crystallinity and Ag addition can improve the photocatalytic performance of ZnWO4 in degradation of rhodamine-B (RhB) under UV light irradiation. The deposition of 1 wt% Ag over ZnWO4 leads to about a one-time increase in the photocatalytic performance with the reference of ZnWO4. The high performance of Ag/ZnWO4 could be attributed to the fact that the high dispersed Ag particles could act as electron traps promoting the electron–hole separation then enhancing the photocatalytic reaction.