A systematic study to evaluate effects of stearic acid on superhydrophobicity and photocatalytic properties of Ag-doped ZnO nanostructures

In the present paper, we employed a co-precipitation method and the modification by stearic acid (SA) to fabrication of silver-(Ag) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructure surfaces with both superhydrophobicity and photocatalytic properties. The effects of Ag-doped and SA weight on the structure, morphology, water contact angle (WCA), and photodegradation were investigated. The results of surfaces wettability showed that the WCA increased from 146 +/- 2 degrees to 156 +/- 2 degrees when the weight of SA increased from 5 to 20 mg due to formation of hierarchical or rough structure. To evaluate the photodegradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye under visible light irradiation the specimens before and after treatment with SA (20 mg) were chosen. The results showed rapid photodegradation of MB after 80 min irradiation with degradation efficiency 93% for superhydrophobic state and 96% for the hydrophilic state. This work suggests an effective approach in water treatment application.