Preparation and photocatalytic performance of porous ZnO microrods loaded with Ag

Porous silver-modified ZnO microrods photocatalysts were synthesized through direct thermal decomposition of the Ag-doped zinctartrate precursor, which was prepared by homogeneous precipitation method at 80 °C for 2 h. The obtained samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, TG-DTA and UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared porous Ag/ZnO microrods was tested with the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. The results indicate that doping Ag greatly improves the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO and 3% Ag-doped (mole fraction) ZnO porous microrod photocatalyst exhibits the highest photocatalytic decolorization efficiency, leading to as much as 80% reduction of MO concentration in 120 min. Moreover, the 3% Ag-doped porous microrods also possess higher photocatalytic activity under the real sunlight irradiation.