Characterizations of Ag doped ZnO nanoparticles via flame pyrolysis method for degradation of methylene blue K Kusdianto, T C Kusuma, M Hudandini, W Widiyastuti, S Madha Nia, S Machmudah, T Nurtono and S Winardi*
Department of Chemical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Sukolilo, Kampus ITS Sukolilo, Surabaya, Indonesia 60111
*Email: swinardi[at]chem-eng.its.ac.id
Abstract
Flame pyrolysis is widely used for fabrication of nanoparticles due to high crystallinity and narrow size distribution of the products. In this study, ZnO-Ag nanocomposite materials have been successfully fabricated by a flame pyrolysis. The effects of Ag loading ranging from 0 to 20 wt% in the ZnO-Ag nanocomposites on the photocatalytic activity under UV and sunlight irradiations were also studied. ZnO and Ag nanoparticles were synthesized based on zinc acetate dihydrate 0.1 M and silver nitrate inside a flame reactor. Morphologies and crystallinity of ZnO-Ag nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). SEM analysis showed that nanoparticles have irregular sphere-like shapes. The XRD patterns indicated that the produced ZnO had a wurtzite structure with varying crystallite sizes. XRD analysis also confirmed the existence of Ag nanoparticles in ZnO-Ag nanocomposites when the concentration of Ag as much as 5 wt% indicated by the appearance of XRD peak at 38.1º. The peak at 38.1º increased with the increase of Ag content. Finally, the photocatalytic activity was evaluated by measuring the degradation of methylene blue aqueous solution under UV and sunlight irradiations. It showed that the best photocatalytic performance was obtained at 5 wt% Ag content for both irradiations.
Keywords: Ag content, Characterizations, Photocatalytic Activity, ZnO/Ag
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