Zn doping induced band gap widening of Ag2O nanoparticles

Abstract Semiconductor bandgap widening is a little investigated phenomenon in photocatalysis literature. The present investigation attempts the widening of the narrow bandgap of Ag2O to make it a semiconductor with more attractive properties. A typical hydrothermal synthesis procedure was used to prepare Zn doped Ag2O nanoparticles. The X-ray diffraction analysis of the prepared powder samples showed that the lattice parameters of Ag2O increase with doping, indicating occupation of an interstitial position by the dopant metal ion. Density functional theory calculations also demonstrated the expansion of the Ag2O crystal lattice with the dopant at an interstitial location. The bandgap of the Ag2O increases to 1.65 eV for 5-mol percent doping. The visible-light photocatalytic properties of the doped Ag2O nanoparticles were tested for aerobic methyl orange degradation.