Having junctions of noble metals and semiconductors is an appealing approach to fabricate a robust photocatalyst for the complete degradation of organic pollutants with visible light activation. Herein, we synthesize Ag/ZnO nanorods (NRs) by a two-step chemical route. ZnO NRs are first grown via a solvothermal process with a length and a diameter of about 300 ± 10 nm and 60 ± 3 nm, respectively. Anisotropic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are then deposited on the surface of the ZnO NRs by a self-assembly process. Thereby, the spatial separation of electron-hole (e^–−h⁺) pairs in the Ag/ZnO NR composites is considerably enhanced because of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect derived from Ag NPs and the suitable energy band alignment between ZnO and Ag. By taking this advantage, Ag/ZnO NRs outperform bare ZnO NRs in photocatalytic activity against rhodamine B (RhB). The Ag/ZnO NRs retain their excellent performance of 86% even after being used repetitively for three recycling rounds. The free radicals trapping test suggests that photogenerated electron is the key factor in the photocatalytic RhB degradation of Ag/ZnO NRs.

具有贵金属和半导体的结点是一种颇具吸引力的方法，可用于制造坚固的光催化剂，以通过可见光活化将有机污染物完全降解。本文中，我们通过两步化学路线合成了Ag / ZnO纳米棒（NRs）。首先通过溶剂热法生长ZnO NR，其长度和直径分别约为300±10 nm和60±3 nm。然后通过自组装过程将各向异性的银纳米颗粒（Ag NPs）沉积在ZnO NRs的表面上。由此，电子空穴的空间分离（e ^– −h ⁺Ag / ZnO NR复合材料中的）对显着增强，这是由于源自Ag NP的局部表面等离子体共振（LSPR）效应以及ZnO和Ag之间的合适能带排列。利用这一优势，Ag / ZnO NRs在对罗丹明B（RhB）的光催化活性方面优于裸露的ZnO NRs。即使重复使用了三轮，Ag / ZnO NR仍保持86％的优异性能。自由基捕获测试表明，光生电子是Ag / ZnO NRs光催化RhB降解的关键因素。