| 초록 |
Semiconductor-based photocatalytic processes have recently gained big attraction in diverse areas such as degradation of organic contaminants, hydrogen evolution through water splitting, and photoreduction of carbon dioxide. Semiconductor photocatalysts provide an economic and eco-friendly option for solving energy and environment crises. Many efforts have been made to improve the efficiency of such semiconductor photocatalysts. A typical semiconductor that has been explored as photocatalyst is zinc oxide (ZnO). Despite many encouraging reports, however, the photocatalytic efficiency of pure ZnO is still far from practical application, primarily due to the high recombination rate of photogenerated charge carriers. To solve this problem, reverse-engineered silver (Ag)/ZnO composites were developed in this work. The composites were synthesized through a two-step solution pathway comprised of polyol method and low-temperature solution method. By the elaborate control of the weight ratio of Ag-to-ZnO, vertically aligned ZnO nanobushes were grown on the surface of well-faceted Ag nanowires. It was disclosed that the photocatalytic activity of Ag/ZnO composites was greatly enhanced in comparison with pure ZnO nanostructures. Furthermore, they demonstrated good cyclic performance and good recovery characteristics. |
