Preparation of superhydrophobic Ag/Fe ₂ O ₃ /ZnO surfaces with photocatalytic activity

Combining photocatalytic and superhydrophobicity characteristics on the same surface remains a challenge. In this work it was overcome that challenge by fabricated Ag/Fe2O3/ZnO heterostructure surfaces via using a simple precipitation method; stearic acid (SA) was then employed to improve the roughness and increase the water contact angles (WCA) of the surfaces. The effects of SA and Ag/Fe2O3 on superhydrophobicity and photocatalytic characteristics were investigated. The wettability measurements confirmed that the WCA of the surfaces increased from 60 ± 2° to 154 ± 2° after modification with SA due to the formation of a hierarchical structure. To evaluate the photocatalytic performance of samples, methylene blue (MB) dye was irradiated under visible light with quick photodecomposition of MB after 80 min of irradiation. Finally, this innovative approach can be utilized to develop scaled-up self-cleaning applications.