Excellent photocatalytic activity of Ag2O loaded ZnO/NiO nanocomposites in sun-light and their biological applications

In this paper, Ag2O decorated ZnO and NiO-based nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized through a simple chemical method. The prepared samples are characterized using different techniques to approve the chemical structure, elemental composition, morphology, and optical properties. In addition, the photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution under sunlight irradiation has been investigated. The observed results indicated the heterostructures of ZnO/Ag2O have significantly higher activity than the bare ZnO and Ag2O nanoparticles under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation of MB by the ZnO/Ag2O sample has occurred within 50 min compared to other higher-cost methods in the literature. ZnO/NiO nanocomposite has also been shown to be an effective antibacterial agent against Gram -positive bacteria Bacillus cereus and Gram-negative bacteria Salmonella typhi and Klebsiella sp.

Automated summary

In this study, Ag2O decorated ZnO and NiO-based nanocomposites were successfully synthesized using a simple chemical method. The prepared samples were characterized to confirm their chemical structure, elemental composition, morphology, and optical properties. The results showed that the heterostructures of ZnO/Ag2O had significantly higher photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation, leading to faster degradation of methylene blue. Additionally, the ZnO/NiO nanocomposite exhibited good antibacterial activity.