Current trends of Silver doped Zinc oxide nanowires photocatalytic degradation for energy and environmental application

A simple phyto-assisted synthesis of zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs) employing urinary tract infection (UTI) controlling traditional medicinal plant Pedalium murex L. mucilage, their silver (Ag) doping by co-precipitation method has been reported. The synthesized Ag-doped ZnO NWs photocatalytic action on the UTI antibiotic nitrofurantoin (NFT) and the dye methylene blue (MB) has been reported. The synthesized NPs optical, biocomponents, structural and chemical properties were determined by UV-vis spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, SEM, TEM, EDAX, particle size analyzer. Photocatalytic activity of the phyto-assisted synthetic Ag-doped ZnO NWs was investigated on the degradation of the antibiotic NFT and the dye MB. The percentage of degradation, as well as dye removal efficiency was calculated. The UV-vis absorption spectrum showed a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band at 370 nm - 400 nm with blue and redshift. The vast bandgap energy (3.37 eV - 2.75 eV) reduction indicated the inclination of noble metal Ag on the surface of ZnO NWs. XRD diffractogram revealed the crystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure and c-axis oriented growth of the synthesized ZnO nanowires. FTIR spectra functional groups exposed the possible contribution of plant phytochemicals in the formation of nanowires. TEM micrographs showed the agglomerations of zinc cite crystal structure nanowire with silver inclination on their surface. EDX and SAED confirmed the elemental composition and purity of the synthesized Ag/ZnO nanowires. The synthesized Ag-doped ZnO nanowires achieved photocatalytic degradation of about 78.51% of the antibiotic NFT and 92.43% of MB dye in 150 min under UV irradiation. The present study establishes the likelihood of photocatalytic degenerative potency of the antibiotic nitrofurantoin and methylene blue employing photosynthesized phytosynthesized zinc oxide nanowires.