Addition of silver nanoparticles to the zinc ferrite/polyaniline composition for boosting its visible photocatalytic degradation.

Enhancing the photocatalytic activity of ZnFeO with a good energy band gap to degrade industrial waste under sunlight illumination can help to develop green environments. Here, to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnFeO ferrites, they were merged with polyaniline (PAni) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles to synthesize Ag@ZnFeO-PAni plasmonic nanostructures. The as-synthesized nanostructures were characterized using a series of advanced characterization techniques to confirm successful formation and investigate photocatalytic improvement origins. It was found that incorporating Ag NPs along with the PAni to ZnFeO increases its absorption power and red-shifts its energy band gap, which increases the electron-hole production rate by exposure to light in ZnFeO. Contribution of the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag NPs and conjugated double bonds of PAni to charge transfer mechanisms in Ag@ZnFeO-PAni material increased charge separation during photocatalytic process, boosting the photodegradation performance of ZnFeO.