title: Ag-doped ZnO nanoellipsoids: potential scaffold for photocatalytic and sensing applications.
abstract: Well-crystalline Ag-doped ZnO nanoellipsoids (NEs) were synthesized in large quantity and used as effective photocatalyst for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) and efficient electron mediator for the fabrication of highly sensitive, reliable and robust hydrazine chemical sensor. The Ag-doped NEs were synthesized by facile low-temperature (~60°C) solution process and characterized in detail using various characterization techniques. The characterizations revealed that the synthesized nanostructures are well-crystalline, possessing ellipsoidal shapes and were grown in very high density. The photocatalytic activities of these Ag-doped NEs were evaluated by measuring the rate of photodegradation reaction of hazardous methyl orange (MO) dye under UV light irradiation. By comparing the photocatalytic performance of Ag-doped ZnO NEs with those of ZnO nanoflowers, the former was found to be a much superior photocatalyst than the later. Further, Ag-doped ZnO NEs based hydrazine sensor exhibited a high sensitivity of ~9.46 µA/cm(2)µM and detection limit of 0.07 µM in a response time of <10s. Thus we find that Ag-doped ZnO nanomaterials synthesized by simple solution process holds potential as efficient photocatalysts and efficient electron mediators for the fabrication of robust and highly sensitive chemical sensors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla 5, India.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla 5, India.
authors.forename: Dilbag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rana
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia; Promising Centre for Sensors and Electronic Devices (PCSED), Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: ahmadumar786@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Umar
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla 5, India.
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla 5, India.
authors.forename: Suvarcha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chauhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla 5, India. Electronic address: mohinderc11@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohinder Singh
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chauhan
mesh_terms: D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000032:analysis; D002384:Catalysis; D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004566:Electrodes; D006834:Hydrazines / Q000032:analysis; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D010782:Photolysis; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D006834:Hydrazines; C029424:hydrazine; D012834:Silver; C100258:methyl orange; D015034:Zinc Oxide
keywords: Ag-doped ZnO nanoellipsoids; Electron mediator; Hydrazine sensor; Methyl orange; Photocatalyst