Noble metal nanoparticle-functionalized ZnO nanoflowers for photocatalytic degradation of RhB dye and electrochemical sensing of hydrogen peroxide

Muhammad Hussain, Hongyu Sun, Shafqat Karim, Amjad Nisar, Maaz Khan, Anwar ul Haq, Munawar Iqbal, Mashkoor Ahmad

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    Flower-like hierarchical Zinc oxide nanostructures synthesized by co-precipitation
    method have been hydrothermally functionalized with 8 nm Au NPs and 15 nm Ag nanoparticles. The photocatalytic and electrochemical performance of these structures are investigated. XPS studies show that the composite exhibits a strong interaction between noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) and Zinc oxide nanoflowers. The PL spectra exhibit UV emission arising due to near band edge transition and show that the reduced PL intensities of Au–ZnO and Ag–ZnO composites are responsible for improved photocatalytic activity arising due to increase in defects. Moreover, the presence of Au NPs on ZnO surface remarkably enhances photocatalytic activity as compared to Ag–ZnO and pure ZnO due to the higher catalytic activity and stability of Au NPs. On the other hand, Ag–ZnO-modified glassy carbon electrode shows good amperometric response to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), with linear range from 1 to 20 μM, and detection limit of 2.5 μM (S/N = 3). The sensor shows high and reproducible sensitivity of 50.8 μA cm-2 μM-1 with a fast response less than 3 s and good stability as compared to pure ZnO and Au–ZnO-based sensors. All these results show that noble metal NPsfunctionalized ZnO base nanocomposites exhibit great prospects for developing efficient non-enzymatic biosensor and environmental remediators.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalJournal of Nanoparticle Research
    Volume18
    Issue number95
    Pages (from-to)1-14
    Number of pages14
    ISSN1388-0764
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016

    Keywords

    • Material Science
    • Nanotechnology
    • Inorganic Chemistry
    • Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
    • Physical Chemistry
    • Optics, Optoelectronics, Plasmonics and Optical Devices
    • SC5
    • Zinc oxide
    • Nanostructure
    • Sensor

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