Photocatalytic activity of ZnO-Zn nanoparticles after nanosilver covering and annealing

Abstract

The research evaluated the photocatalytic activity (PCA) of zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs) produced by pulsed electron beam evaporation (PEBE). The ability of NPs to accelerate the photodegradation of methyl violet dye under UV exposure was considered. The paper presents an analysis of changes in catalytic activity after annealing and coating with nanosilver of the studied samples. It has been shown that as the annealing temperature increases, the PCA increases, especially for doped particles. The highest catalytic ability was shown by doped NPs ZnO-Zn+Ag annealed at a temperature of 400 °C. This sample allowed to increase the photodegradation of the organic dye by more than 6.5 times compared to the control.