Modification of the Photocatalytic Activity of Zinc Oxide by Doping Silver

The present study involves modification of zinc oxide by doping silver from an aqueous solution. Modification surface of zinc oxide was characterized by powder X- rays diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive X-rays spectroscopy (EDX) and UV-Visible fluorescence spectroscopy. Also the point zero charges (PZC) for neat and silver doped ZnO was investigated by potentiometric titration. From XRD patterns for neat and doped zinc oxide, doping zinc oxide in this level doesnt alter its crystallite. The photocatalytic activity of these materials was investigated by following photocatalytic degradation of dispersive red-50 and congo red dyes from their aqueous solutions. From this study it was found that doped zinc oxide showed a higher photocatalytic activity in comparison with the neat samples under the same reaction conditions.