ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Structurally robust anatase/Ag–ZnO heterojunctions prepared at low temperature for photocatalytic activity

Shumaila Islam, Adil Alshoaibi, and Kawther Alamer

Department of Physics, College of Science, King Faisal University, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia

E-mail: siislam@kfu.edu.sa

Received: 28 January 2026  Accepted: 9 May 2026

Abstract:

To address dye-contaminated wastewater, a ternary nanocatalyst, anatase/Ag–ZnO (A/AZNC), was synthesized via a low-temperature sol–gel route at 80 °C. The synthesized A/AZNC composite exhibits a specific surface area of ~ 20 m²g⁻¹, an average pore diameter of ~ 1.9 nm, and a crystallite size of ~ 20 nm, along with thermal stability up to ~ 400 °C, and an optical bandgap of ~ 3.27 eV. Under UV irradiation, A/AZNC achieved ~ 92% methylene blue (MB) degradation within 240 min, following pseudo-first-order kinetics with a rate constant (k_app) of ~ 0.01 min⁻¹. The enhanced photocatalytic performance is attributed to improved charge separation at the anatase/Ag–ZnO interface. These findings demonstrate that A/AZNC is an efficient photocatalyst with potential applicability in wastewater treatment.

Keywords: Sol–gel method; Anatase nanoparticles; Mesoporous nanocatalyst; Type II heterojunction

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-026-05035-6

Chemical Papers 80 (9) 10661–10676 (2026)