Preparation of Ag nanoparticles coated tetrapod-like ZnO whisker photocatalysts using photoreduction

Ag/tetrapod-like ZnO whisker (T-ZnOw) photocatalysts with different Ag loadings were synthesized by photoreduction of Ag(+) on the surface of T-ZnOw. The chemical composition, morphology and photocatalytic properties of Ag/T-ZnOw photocatalysts were characterized and studied in detail. It is found that metal Ag can exist either as nanoparticles or as agglomerates through varying the Ag/ZnO molar ratio (MR). In photodegradation of methyl orange, enhanced degradation rates are achieved by all Ag/T-ZnOw photocatalysts due to increased separation efficiency of photogenerated electron and hole pairs. Specifically, the photocatalytic activities of Ag/T-ZnOw photocatalysts increase with increasing Ag/ZnO MR from 2.4 to 12%. However, further increasing the Ag/ZnO MR to 14.4% induces the formation of more agglomerates, which can act as recombination centers of photogenerated electron and hole pairs, leading to decreased photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.