Effect of Ag, pH, and time on the preparation of Ag-functionalized zinc oxide nanoagglomerates as photocatalysts

• Functionalization of ZnO with stabilized Ag nanoparticles.
• Homogeneously distributed and small size Ag nanoparticles deposited on ZnO.
• Ag/ZnO-PD photocatalytic activity improves four times for bisphenol-A degradation.

Photodeposition and impregnation methods for the functionalization of zinc oxide nanoagglomerates with silver nanoparticles were studied. The effect of reaction conditions such as nominal amount of stabilized silver nanoparticles, pH, and time on functionalization efficiency was investigated. The functionalized zinc oxide was characterized by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, N2 physisorption, infrared spectroscopy, and UV–vis spectroscopy. The results showed that UV irradiation promoted the homogeneous dispersion of strongly bonded silver nanoparticles on ZnO. In addition, hydroxyl surface content and absorption in the visible region of the spectra suggest improvement of photocatalytic activity. The ZnO functionalized with silver by photodeposition and impregnation methods showed four and two times higher reaction rates, respectively, for bisphenol-A degradation compared with pure ZnO. Hence, the proposed functionalization methods represent a useful approach to synthesizing photocatalysts with the potential to be used in degradation of endocrine-disrupting compounds.

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