Pulsed laser synthesis of Ag/ZnO heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic performance
摘要
Ag/ZnO heterojunction shows excellent performance in catalytic degradation, holding significant promise for applications in treating organic pollutants and water treatment. The complicated synthesis process has caused technical challenges, necessitating the development of a reliable, efficient, safe, and eco-friendly method. This study addresses these challenges by employing laser-induced hydrothermal growth (LIHG) to synthesise the Ag/ZnO heterojunction. During the synthesis, ZnO grows and Ag+ reduces, resulting in uniformly distributed heterojunctions. By laser thermal effect, Ag+ is deposited on ZnO surfaces. The heterojunction is in a tapered profile, and nanowires form a nanoflower. Under visible light irradiation, the Ag/ZnO heterojunction exhibits an enhancement (~ 31.3%) in photocatalytic performance compared to Ag/ZnO heterojunction synthesized by photo-deposition. It shows an enhancement (~ 2.5 times) in photocatalytic performance compared to bare ZnO in pollutant degradation. These results afford a new route to synthesise binary Ag/ZnO heterojunctions with better performance for wastewater treatment.