Highly visible light active Ag@ZnO nanocomposites synthesized by gel-combustion route

Highly visible light active 1% and 3% Ag@ZnO nanocomposites were synthesized via a gel combustion route using citric acid as a fuel. The formation of the nanocomposites with enhanced properties was confirmed using a range of characterization techniques, photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical studies. Compared to the pristine ZnO nanoparticles, the Ag@ZnO nanocomposites exhibited enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue and photoelectrochemical response. A mechanism was proposed to account for the photocatalytic activities of the Ag@ZnO nanocomposite that showed the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Ag is an effective way of enhancing the visible light photocatalytic activities. (C) 2013 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.