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Efficient photodegradation of resorcinol with Ag2O/ZnO nanorods heterostructure under a compact fluorescent lamp irradiation

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Abstract

Ag2O/ZnO heterostructure has been recently synthesized using a facile chemical-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy results confirmed the Ag2O nanoparticles loading on ZnO nanorods. The Ag2O addition increased the visible light absorption ability and a red shift for Ag2O/ZnO heterostructure appeared when compared to pure ZnO. Photoluminescence spectra showed lower emission yield on the Ag2O/ZnO heterostructure than on pure ZnO. Such a decrease in the emission yield represents the fraction of the excited state Ag2O sensitizer involved in the charge injection process. Under compact fluorescent lamp irradiation, the Ag2O/ZnO heterostructure demonstrated higher photocatalytic activity than pure ZnO in the degradation of resorcinol, which can be attributed to the high separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs based on the cooperative roles of Ag2O loading on ZnO nanarods. All these characteristics represent a significant contribution of the Ag2O/ZnO heterostructure to the practical applications in indoor environmental remediation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, University Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

    Sze-Mun Lam, Jin-Chung Sin, Ahmad Zuhairi Abdullah & Abdul Rahman Mohamed

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  1. Sze-Mun Lam
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  2. Jin-Chung Sin
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  3. Ahmad Zuhairi Abdullah
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  4. Abdul Rahman Mohamed
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Correspondence to Abdul Rahman Mohamed.

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Lam, SM., Sin, JC., Abdullah, A.Z. et al. Efficient photodegradation of resorcinol with Ag2O/ZnO nanorods heterostructure under a compact fluorescent lamp irradiation. Chem. Pap. 67, 1277–1284 (2013). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11696-013-0395-8

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