Circular-Sheet Nanocomposite Ag/ZnO-ZrO2: Mircowave-Assisted Synthesis and Photocatalytic Degradation Rhodamine B under Multiple Modes

The nanocomposite Ag/ZnO-ZrO2 was prepared by microwave -assisted during the synthetic process about ZnO with sedimentation. The effect of microwave irradiation about the crystal structure, morphology and surface physicochemical properties of Ag/ZnO-ZrO2 were well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV-Vis/DRS), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and N-2 adsorption -desorption determination. The results indicated that, under the function of microwave irradiation, in addition to the crystal structure was not changed, the intensity of diffraction peaks of Ag increased. At the same time, the crystalline grain sizes, light absorption properties and specific surface area were changed, especially the morphology of Ag/ZnO-ZrO2 presented circular sheet structure. The photocatalytic performance of Ag/ZnO-ZrO2 was estimated under the conditions of UV or microwave -assisted, moreover, the photocatalytic performance of Ag/ZnO-ZrO2 under the mode of simulated sunlight was investigated for its practicability under sunlight. Under the function of UV light, the results have revealed that the activities of as sample were much enhanced under the condition of microwave -assisted phtocatalytic. Furthermore, Ag/ZnO-ZrO2 synthesized with microwave power 200 W showed the highest activities. The results above suggested that the photocatalytic activities of the as-sample can be enhanced by the way of microwave -assisted. In addiation, the Possible photocatalytic mechanism of Ag/ZnO-ZrO2 was proposed by the trapping of the photocatalyic activity species under UV irradiation.