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Novel ZnO/Ag nanohybrids prepared from Ag+-doped layered zinc hydroxides as highly active photocatalysts for the degradation of dyes and Ciprofloxacin

2023; Elsevier BV; Volume: 671; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.colsurfa.2023.131643

1873-4359

Mouna Ibn Mahrsi, Bilel Chouchene, Thomas Gries, Vincent Carré, Émilien Girot, Ghouti Medjahdi, Fadhila Ayari, Lavinia Balan, Raphaël Schneider,

Perovskite Materials and Applications

The design and the synthesis of highly active nanohybrid photocatalysts for environmental remediation is a topical issue in the context of sustainable development. The hybridization of a semiconductor with noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) has been demonstrated to be a versatile strategy to restrict the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and thus increase the photocatalytic activity. However, the uniform association of nanosized metal particles with ZnO NPs remains a challenge. Herein, a novel synthesis of ZnO NPs hybridized with Ag(0) NPs is presented. Ag+-doped layered zinc hydroxides (LZHs) were prepared in aqueous solution in the presence of triethanolamine and subsequently Ag+ ions were photoreduced into metallic Ag NPs embedded into LZHs. The LZHs not only promote the dispersion of Ag NPs but also limit their growth. The Ag(0)-doped LZHs obtained after hydrothermal treatment was finally transformed into ZnO/Ag nanohybrids by a mild thermal treatment at 300 °C for 5 min, which allows high interface coupling between ZnO and Ag NPs. ZnO associated with 3 mol% Ag exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of dyes (Rhodamine B and Remazol Brillant Blue R) and of the Ciprofloxacin antibiotic. The high photocatalytic performance of the ZnO/Ag(3) nanohybrid originates from the charge transfer in the ZnO/Ag nanohybrid and from the enhanced harvesting of visible light. The ZnO/Ag(3) photocatalyst also exhibits a high practical stability, indicating its great potential for real photocatalytic applications.