| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1504276 | Solid State Sciences | 2015 | 10 Pages |
•Ultrasonic-assisted one-pot method was applied for preparation of Ag/AgCl sensitized ZnO nanostructures.•Visible-light-activities were investigated by degradation of methylene blue.•The degradation rate constant rapidly increases with mole fraction of silver chloride up to 0.237.•The degradation rate constant on the nanocomposite is about 6-fold greater than that of ZnO nanostructures.•The degradation rate constant increases with ultrasonic irradiation time up to one hour and then decreases.
Ultrasonic-assisted method was applied for preparation of Ag/AgCl sensitized ZnO nanostructures by one-pot procedure in water without using any post preparation treatments. The resultant nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, DRS, XPS, BET, and PL techniques. In the nanocomposites, ZnO and AgCl have wurtzite hexagonal and cubic crystalline phases, respectively and their surface morphologies remarkably change with increasing mole fraction of silver chloride. The EDX and XPS techniques show that the prepared samples are extremely pure. Ability of the nanocomposites for absorption of visible-light irradiation enhanced with increasing AgCl content. Photocatalytic examination of the nanocomposites was carried out using aqueous solution of methylene blue under visible-light irradiation. The degradation rate constant on the nancomposite rapidly increases with mole fraction of silver chloride up to 0.237. Enhancing activity of the nanocomposite was attributed to its ability for absorbing visible light and separation of electron–hole pairs. Furthermore, influence of ultrasonic irradiation time, calcination temperature, catalyst weight, pH of solution, and scavengers of reactive species on the degradation activity was investigated and the results were discussed. Finally, the photocatalyst has good activity after five successive cycles.
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