Environmental contaminants have become a major concern for human beings due to their adverse effects on drinking water quality. Heterogeneous photocatalysis has been extensively investigated as a potential strategy to minimize the consequences of as-related processes. Using a room-temperature ionic liquid-mediated co-precipitation method, Ag@AgCl nanoparticles were loaded onto tantalum pentoxide to make a plasmonic photocatalyst to remove Congo Red dye. The physicochemical properties of the photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction powder (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The results indicate that 96% of the dye was degraded within 20 min with a rate constant of 0.14 min(-1). The key radicals involved in the photocatalysis, recognized as O-2(center dot-) species, were identified by electron spin resonance (ESR) in the presence of 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO), as the spin trapping agent. Our findings and quenching experiments elucidates the mechanism of the charge carrier migration. The cytotoxicity activity of the nanostructures was also examined against human brain glioblastoma tumor cells for the first time. A precise analysis of the cell death pathway was conducted using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and caspase activity assays in combination with fluorescence microscopy images. The prepared nanomaterials were found to be promising candidates for treating the organic pollutants and biomedical waste effluents from academic and industrial activities.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) is an enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), which has been issued as a major threat to public health worldwide due to fatal contamination of water and food. Thus, its rapid and accurate detection has tremendous importance in environmental monitoring and human health. In this regard, we report a simple and sensitive electrochemical DNA biosensor by targeting Z3276 as a genetic marker in river water. The surface of the designed gold electrode was functionalized with gold nanostars and an aminated specific sensing probe of E. coli O157:H7 to fabricate the genosensor. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques were applied for electrochemical characterization and detection. The synthesized gold nanostars were characterized using different characterization techniques. The fabricated DNA-based sensor exhibited a high selective ability for one, two, and three-base mismatched sequences. Regeneration, stability, selectivity, and kinetics of the bioassay were investigated. Under optimal conditions, the fabricated genosensor exhibited a linear response range of 10(-5) to 10(-17) mu M in the standard sample and 7.3 to 1 x 10(-17) mu M in water samples with a low limit of quantification of 0.01 zM in water samples. The detection strategy based on silver plated gold nanostars and DNA hybridization improved the sensitivity and specificity of the assay for E. coli O157:H7 detection in real water samples without filtration. The detection assay has the advantages of high selectivity, sensitivity, low amounts of reagents, short analysis time, commercialization, and potential application for the determination of other pathogenic bacteria.

Controlling the reaction kinetics during the nucleation/growth of cupric oxide (CuO) nanostructures is very critical in order to achieve a specific and well-defined morphology. For this purpose, we have slowed down the reaction speed using a mixed solvent concept and successfully obtained a chain-like morphology of CuO nanostructures using hydrothermal method. The CuO chain-like morphology was synthesized using a 1:1 (v/v) ratio of ethylene glycol and water. The morphology and crystalline features of CuO were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and powder X-ray diffraction techniques. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed 5 nm crystallite size for the CuO material prepared in the mixed solvents. The obtained results have shown that the prepared CuO chains had a monocline phase, containing only Cu and O as main elements as confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy. This unique morphology obtained from mixed solvent process has provided a better surface for the loading of urease enzyme, thus it enabled the development of sensitive and selective urea biosensor in phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.4. The physical adsorption method was used to immobilize urease enzyme onto the nano surface of CuO. The fabricated biosensor based on urease/CuO chains has shown a dynamic linear range from 0.0005 to15 mM with a low limit of detection 0.0001 mM. Additionally, a fast response time aroudn1s, h high selectivity, stability, repeatability, storage time, and reproducibility were observed. The effect of pH and temperature on the potentiometric signal of the developed biosensor was also examined. Importantly, the practical aspects of the fabricated urea biosensor were probed and the obtained percent recovery results revealed an outstanding performance. The strategy of using mixed solvent with equal volume ratio would be useful for the preparation of other metal oxides with improved catalytic properties for a wide range of clinical, biomedical and other related applications.

Different ZnO nanostructures can be grown using low-cost chemical bath deposition. Although this technique is cost-efficient and flexible, the final structures are usually randomly oriented and hardly controllable in terms of homogeneity and surface density. In this work, we use colloidal lithography to pattern (100) silicon substrates to fully control the nanorods' morphology and density. Moreover, a sol-gel prepared ZnO seed layer was employed to compensate for the lattice mismatch between the silicon substrate and ZnO nanorods. The results show a successful growth of vertically aligned ZnO nanorods with controllable diameter and density in the designated openings in the patterned resist mask deposited on the seed layer. Our method can be used to fabricate optimized devices where vertically ordered ZnO nanorods of high crystalline quality are crucial for the device performance.

In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods are doped with copper by low temperature aqueous chemical growth method using different concentrations of copper 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg and 20 mg and labeled as sample 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The morphology and phase purity of nanostructures was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction techniques. The optical characterization was carried out through UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The band gap of coper doped ZnO has brought reduction at 250-600 nm and it indicates the fewer time for the recombination of electron and hole pairs, thus enhanced photo degradation efficiency is found. ZnO exhibits nanorods like shape even after the doping of copper. The photo degradation efficiency for the two chronic dyes such as methyl orange MO and methylene blue MB was found to be 57.5% and 60% respectively for a time of 180 mints. This study suggests that the copper impurity in ZnO can tailor its photocatalytic activity at considerable rate. The proposed photo catalysts are promising and can be used for the waste water treatment and other environmental applications.

Doped semiconductors nanostructures (NSs) have shown great interest as a potential for green and efficient photocatalysis activities. Magnesium (Mg)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) has been synthesized by a one-step chemical low temperature (60 °C) co-precipitation method without further calcination and their photocatalytic performance for photodegradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye under the illumination of solar light is investigated. The crystal structure of the synthesized NPs is examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD data indicates a slight shift towards higher 2θ angle in Mg-doped samples as compared to the pure ZnO NPs which suggest the incorporation of Mg2+ into ZnO crystal lattice. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–Vis spectrophotometer and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy, were used to study electronics, and optical properties, respectively. The XPS analysis confirms the substitution of the Zn2+ by the Mg2+ into the ZnO crystal lattice in agreement with the XRD data. The photocatalytic activities showed a significant enhancement of the Mg-doped ZnO NPs in comparison with pure ZnO NPs. Hole/radical scavengers were used to reveal the mechanism of the photodegradation. It was found that the addition of the Mg to the ZnO lattices increases the absorption of the hydroxyl ions at the surface of the NPs and hence acts as a trap site leading to decrease the electron-hole pair and consequently enhancing the photodegradation.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are widely investigated for photocatalytic applications but the functional properties are limited by the fast carrier recombination rate, which is an intrinsic property of ZnO. To optimize the recombination rate of ZnO, a study is carried out in which it is covered with Ni-Fe layered double hydroxides and synergistic effects are created which boosted the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. The nanostructured materials are synthesized by the low temperature aqueous chemical growth and electrodeposition methods. These nanostructures are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. SEM study has revealed a Ni–Fe LDH coated ZnO NRs. The powder XRD has showed a cubic phase of the Ni-Fe layered double hydroxide on the ZnO NRs having an excellent crystalline quality. The optical characterization has shown low scattering of light for the Ni–Fe LDH coated ZnO NRs sample. The sample prepared with deposition time of 25 s showed excellent photochemical water splitting properties compared to counter photo-anodes in alkaline media. The photo response was highly stable and fast. The incident photon to current conversion efficiency for the photo-anode of Ni–Fe(LDHs)/ZnO over 25 s was 82% at a maximum absorption of 380 nm compared to the pristine ZnO NRs which has 70% at the same wavelength. This study is providing a simple, cost effective, earth abundant and environment friendly methodology for the fabrication of photo-anodes for diverse applications specifically water oxidation and solar radiation driven water splitting.

High-efficiency photocatalysts are crucial for the removal of organic pollutants and environmental sustainability. In the present work, we report on a new low-temperature hydrothermal chemical method, assisted by ultrasonication, to synthesize disruptive plasmonic ZnO/graphene/Ag/AgI nanocomposites for solar-driven photocatalysis. The plasmonic nanocomposites were investigated by a wide range of characterization techniques, confirming successful formation of photocatalysts with excellent degradation efficiency. Using Congo red as a model dye molecule, our experimental results demonstrated a photocatalytic reactivity exceeding 90% efficiency after one hour simulated solar irradiation. The significantly enhanced degradation efficiency is attributed to improved electronic properties of the nanocomposites by hybridization of the graphene and to the addition of Ag/AgI which generates a strong surface plasmon resonance effect in the metallic silver further improving the photocatalytic activity and stability under solar irradiation. Scavenger experiments suggest that superoxide and hydroxyl radicals are responsible for the photodegradation of Congo red. Our findings are important for the fundamental understanding of the photocatalytic mechanism of ZnO/graphene/Ag/AgI nanocomposites and can lead to further development of novel efficient photocatalyst materials.

In this study, ZnO nanorods (NRs) were hydrothermally grown on an Au-coated glass substrate at a relatively low temperature (90 °C), followed by the deposition of Ag2CrO4 particles via a successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) route. The content of the Ag2CrO4 particles on ZnO NRs was controlled by changing the number of SILAR cycles. The fabricated ZnO–Ag2CrO4 heterojunction photoelectrodes were subjected to morphological, structural, compositional, and optical property analyses; their photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties were investigated under simulated solar light illumination. The photocurrent responses confirmed that the ability of the ZnO–Ag2CrO4 heterojunction photoelectrodes to separate the photo-generated electron–hole pairs is stronger than that of bare ZnO NRs. Impressively, the maximum photocurrent density of about 2.51 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) was measured for the prepared ZnO–Ag2CrO4 photoelectrode with 8 SILAR cycles (denoted as ZnO–Ag2CrO4-8), which exhibited about 3-fold photo-enhancement in the current density as compared to bare ZnO NRs (0.87 mA cm−2) under similar conditions. The improvement in photoactivity was attributed to the ideal band gap and high absorption coefficient of the Ag2CrO4 particles, which resulted in improved solar light absorption properties. Furthermore, an appropriate annealing treatment was proven to be an efficient process to increase the crystallinity of Ag2CrO4 particles deposited on ZnO NRs, which improved the charge transport characteristics of the ZnO–Ag2CrO4-8 photoelectrode annealed at 200 °C and increased the performance of the photoelectrode. The results achieved in the present work present new insights for designing n–n heterojunction photoelectrodes for efficient and cost-effective PEC applications and solar-to-fuel energ

The optical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) synthesized by the low-temperature aqueous chemical method on top of silicon (Si) substrate have been investigated by means of photoelectron energy loss spectroscopy (PEELS). The ZnO NRs were obtained by the low temperature aqueous chemical synthesis on top of Si substrate. The measured valence band, the dynamical dielectric functions and optical absorption of the material show a reasonable agreement when the trending and shape of the theoretical calculations are considered. A first-principle calculation based on density functional theory (DFT) was performed using the partially self-consistent GW approximation (scGW0) and compared to the experimental results. The application of these two techniques brings a new analysis of the electronic properties of this material. The experimental results regarding the density of states (DOS) obtained for the valence band using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was found to be consistent with the theoretical calculated value. Due to this consistency, the same wavefunctions was then employed to calculate the dielectric function of the ZnO NRs. The experimentally extracted dielectric function was also consistent with the calculated values.