Enhanced Photocatalysis of Electrospun Ag-ZnO Heterostructured Nanofibers

A unique dimer-type heterostructure of Ag-ZnO nanofibers with a diameter of 80-150 nm and coupled Ag nanoparticles in the size range from several to 15 nm have been fabricated by a facile electrospinning method. Rhodamine B (RhB) was employed as a representative dye pollutant to evaluate the ultraviolet (UV) photocatalytic activity of Ag-ZnO nanofibers. It was found that the heterojunction structure promoted the charge separation as well as the photon efficiency, allowing both the photogenerated electrons and holes to participate in the overall photocatalytic reaction. The optimal photocatalytic activity of Ag-ZnO nanofibers exceeded that of pure ZnO nanofibers by a factor of more than 25. A possible mechanism for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of ZnO by Ag was proposed.