One-pot hydrothermal synthesis of multifunctional Ag/ZnO/fly ash nanocomposite

• Ag-doped ZnO/fly ash composite was synthesized by hydrothermal treatment.
• Fly ash provided suitable surface for the in situ deposition of Ag and ZnO NPs.
• Incorporation of Ag and ZnO NPs increased the surface area of whole matrix.
• Composite has high photocatalytic/antibacterial capacity with good reusability.
• Readily available industrial by-product is used for environmental remediation.

In this study, a stable Ag-doped ZnO/fly ash composite was synthesized using a facile one-pot hydrothermal process. An aqueous solution containing Ag and ZnO precursors with fly ash (FA) was subjected to a hydrothermal treatment at 140 °C for 2 h. The morphology and structure of the as-synthesized composite was investigated by several analytical methods, such as FE-SEM, EDS, TEM, X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. FA provided a suitable surface for the in situ deposition of ZnO and Ag NPs during hydrothermal treatment. As a result, the particle size sufficiently decreased and the surface area increased. The Ag and ZnO NPs supported by FA greatly enhanced the antibacterial and photocatalytic efficiency. The antibacterial activity of the composite particle was assessed against Escherichia coli, and the photocatalytic efficiency was measured by the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation. Results indicated that the as-synthesized nanocomposite has high photocatalytic and antibacterial capacity with good reusability. The composite synthesis protocol is a facile and efficient method that utilizes a readily available industrial byproduct to produce a unique composite for environmental remediation.

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