A novel approach for the synthesis of highly active ZnO/TiO2/Ag2O nanocomposite and its photocatalytic applications

The present work is focused on the preparation of hybrid ZnO/TiO2/Ag2O nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic activity. The resultant samples are characterized by using XRD, SEM, EDX, HR-TEM, UV-DRS, BET and XPS techniques. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates the co-existence of wurtzite, anatase and cubic phases in ZnO/TiO2/Ag2O nanocomposite. The band gap energy value of the photocatalyst is 3.39 eV, which has been evidenced from UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye has been investigated by using UV-visible spectrophotometer. From the result, it has been concluded that ZnO/TiO2/Ag2O nanocomposite has proven to be an efficient photocatalyst under UV irradiation when compared to that of mono and binary oxide systems. Further, the possible photodegradation mechanism is proposed to support the enhancement of photocatalytic activity towards degradation of dyes. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.