Enhanced solar-driven photocatalytic and antibacterial performance of Ag-doped NiO nanoparticles

초록

Photocatalysis utilizes semiconductor materials to harmful solar energy for the effective purification of water by removing various pollutants. The degradation of organic dyes is widely employed as a standard approach for evaluating the photocatalytic performance of semiconductor materials. In this study, pristine NiO and Ag-doped NiO nanoparticles containing 3 and 5% Ag- doped NiO nanoparticles were synthesized using a simple co-precipitation method and systematically evaluated for their photocatalytic and antibacterial activities. In contrast, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the formation of a face-centred cubic NiO structure without detectable impurity phases. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) analyses revealed agglomerated polycrystalline nanoparticles. UV–Visible spectroscopy demonstrated that Ag incorporation significantly altered the optical properties of NiO, with band-gap energies of 3.90, 4.40, and 4.62 eV for pristine NiO, 3% Ag-doped NiO, and 5% Ag-doped NiO NPs, respectively. Among the synthesized samples, 3% Ag-doped NiO exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, achieving 96% and 87% degradation of Methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB), respectively, under natural sunlight irradiation within 120 min. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to improved charge-carrier separation and the efficient generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which reduced electron–hole recombination. Furthermore, photoluminescence (PL) analysis showed a substantial decrease in emission intensity after Ag incorporation compared with pristine NiO, indicating enhanced charge-carrier separation and suppressed electron–hole recombination. In contrast, 5% Ag-doped NiO NPs exhibited the strongest antibacterial activity against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. These findings demonstrate the potential of Ag-doped NiO NPs for environmental remediation and antibacterial applications. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

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