Pseudo-SILAR assisted unique synthesis of ZnO/Ag2O nanocomposites for improved photocatalytic and antibacterial performance without cytotoxic effect

• Published in: Colloids and surfaces. A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects Physicochemical and engineering aspects, 2020-10, Vol.603, p.125200, Article 125200
• Main Authors: Ahmad, Muneeb, Zaidi, Syed Jazib Abbas, Zoha, Summal, Khan, Muhammad Saad, Shahid, Muhammad, Park, Tae Joo, Basit, Muhammad Abdul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ag2O; Antibacterial activity; B. subtilis; E. coli; HepG2; p-SILAR; ZnO
• ISSN: 0927-7757; 1873-4359
• DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2020.125200

[Display omitted] The combination of silver (I) oxide (Ag2O) with zinc oxide (ZnO) evolves the magnificent response of composite for antimicrobial and photocatalytic applications concomitantly. A novel, cost-effective and facile wet-chemical recipe for developing ZnO/Ag2O nanocomposites is realized by customizing pseudo-successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (p-SILAR) process. Quantitatively as well as qualitatively controlled Ag2O was deposited on flower-like ZnO, termed as ZnO NFs, by carrying out 1–4 cycles of customized p-SILAR. It was affirmed that the cationic adsorption of Ag+ from AgNO3 solution instigates the formation of Ag2O over ZnO NFs via a simple heat-treatment process. Followed by the customary material characterizations including SEM, TEM, XPS etc., the ZnO/Ag2O nanocomposites were tested for controlling the toxic organic dye (Rhodamine B) and harmful bacterial species i.e. E. coli and B. subtilis. A significant increase in the photocatalytic performance of ZnO NFs under ultra-violet (UV) as well as visible (vis) irradiation was obtained by incorporating 2 cycles of Ag2O deposition. Consequently, the degradation rate constant of optimal ZnO/Ag2O-2C was increased to 0.1077 and 0.0104 from 0.0235 and 0.0011 min−1, under UV and vis light respectively. Similarly, ZnO/Ag2O evolved a significant increase in the inhibition zones without exhibiting a considerable decrease in the cell viability of HepG2, which further avowed the bio-compatibility of ZnO NFs having Ag2O.