Abstract
Herein we are presenting the easy synthesis of ZnO with different Ag contents in presence of 0.5 g citric acid and studied their key physical properties. Structural study confirm the hexagonal phase of ZnO at all contents of Ag and the crystallite size calculated in range of 21 to 23 nm. No major variation in crystallite size was seen on increasing the Ag content in ZnO. Further confirmation of Ag doping with homogeneity was approved by EDX/SEM e-mapping analysis. SEM study reveals low dimensional spherical nanoparticles synthesis and slight variation in grain size was also noticed. The energy gap values were determined via Kubelka–Munk relation and noticed to vary from 3.25 to 3.28 eV in response to Ag-dopant content. The photocatalytic decolourization of methyl green (MG) dye was investigated over the prepared specimens below the black light, the obtained results showed the strong impact of Ag on the photocatalytic performance of ZnO. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO was strongly improved at small Ag content, when 1% of silver nanoparticles was incorporated into ZO lattice, 36% improving in photocatalytic activity was observed. While at high loading, the photocatalytic activity decreased sharply. The outcomes suggest that the preparation route and Ag content have strong impact of photocatalytic activities of ZnO and hance can be employed as better photocatalyst to degrade harmful dyes from water.