Ag Incorporated ZnO Nanorods Array/ZnSe Heterostructure

Ternary ZnO Nanorods array/Ag/ZnSe heterostructure was grown by successive chemical bath deposition (CBD), magnetron sputtering and the vacuum evaporation. The hybrid nanostructure was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy (FE-SEM/EDX), current-voltage measurement and a UV–Vis-near IR spectrophotometer. The photocatalytic performance was estimated by the degradation of a Rhodamine B (RhB) solution under UV-Vis light irradiation. The effect of Ag nanosheet loading on the catalytic performance of ZnO NRs/ZnSe was estimated as a function of the Ag nanosheet thickness between 0–25nm. There is an optimal Ag thickness which ZnO NRs/Ag/ZnSe hybrid composite shows highest photocatalytic efficiency. The localized surface plasmon resonance and the two Schottky junction e.g. Ag/ZnO and Ag/ZnSe, simulatanousely motivates photogenerated electron – hole separation and transfer.