Effect of Solution pH on the Photo-Oxidation of 4-Chlorophenol by Synthesized Silver-Zinc Oxide Photocatalyst

Due to its toxicity, 4-chlorophenol (4CP) must be removed from the wastewater before discharging into open water. In this work, ZnO and Ag-ZnO photocatalysts were prepared via a solvothermal method under mild conditions (150 °C), followed by calcination at 300 °C then characterized. The addition of Ag resulted in change morphologies, which exhibited wurtzite structure, irregular rod-like shape, lower bandgap energy, electron-hole recombination rate. 0.6 catalyst showed highest efficiency photooxidation 4CP UV irradiation. Molecular exists acidic near-neutral (pH 4 6) is stable towards Photooxidation 2.3 × 10–4 mol/L 0.8 g 0.6% 67% removal molecular pH 6 with rate constant 4.0 10–3 min–1. Under similar conditions, complete anionic was observed 11 1.4 10–2 holes superoxide radicals are species responsible for photoooxidation, while hydroxyl dominant 4CP. Ag/ZnO photocatalyst exhibit good potential efficiently oxidize both alkaline conditions.