In this part of the report, the results of the experiments and analyses have been examined.

First,
FTIR, UV, SEM, and XRD, analyses to investigate the physical and chemical properties of morphology
and morphology, chemical bonds, and photocatalytic properties, measured ZnO nanoparticles (Nano
rod) and the resulting nanocomposite.

Investigating the physicochemical properties of photocatalyst

0-0-0 FTIR analysis

Figure 0-0 shows that the FTIR spectrum of zinc oxide samples doped with silver and its nanocomposite
were measured in the range of 400-4000 cm-1. The synthesized samples have a broad absorption band
at 3444 cm-1, which is related to the stretching vibrations of O-H H2O in ZnO, which indicates the
presence of water adsorbed on the surface of the catalyst powders [30].

In fact, the synthesis of ZnO in alcoholic solution prevents the formation of Zn-OH [31]. The absorption
band at 2974 cm-1 was attributed to C-H stretching in acetate species that may exist on the surface of
the catalyst. The bending vibration of the interlayer water molecule with a normal band appeared at
1608 cm-1. The absorption peak at about 429 cm-1 corresponds to a typical FTIR absorption peak of
ZnO, which originates from the stretching state of the Zn-O bond [32].

30. Seo, J.W., et al., Development of water-soluble single-crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles for
photocatalytic cancer-cell treatment. Small, 2007. 3(5): p. 850-853.
31. Tsao, H.N., et al., Cyclopentadithiophene Bridged Donor–Acceptor Dyes Achieve High
Power Conversion Efficiencies in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells Based on the tris‐Cobalt
Bipyridine Redox Couple. ChemSusChem, 2011. 4(5): p. 591-594.
32. Trzciński, K., et al., Photoelectrochemical properties of BIMEVOX (ME= Cu, Zn, Mn)
electrodes in contact with aqueous electrolyte. Solid State Ionics, 2015. 271: p. 63-68.

The absorption bands at 1384 cm-1 and 1576 cm-1 are attributed to the vibrations of carboxylate
groups of MOF. The band occurs at 1608 cm-1 and is assigned to the C=N 4-body stretching vibration.
Except for the absorption bands mentioned above, no other distinct peaks corresponding to any other
functional groups are detected in the FTIR spectrum, which clearly shows that the synthesized product
is without significant impurity.
Figure( ) the result of FTIR for ZnO Nanorod
UV-Vis Absorption Spectrum
The spectrum of ZnO NP is characterized by a strong absorption in an UV band extending considerably
into the UV-range, with a local absorption peak at 362 nm, whereas Sb1 absorption is characterized
by a relatively narrower spectral band centered at 350 nm UV–Visible spectroscopy

UV–Visible absorption spectrum of synthesized nanoparticles is shown in Figure below. The distinct
peak centered around 350 nm is specific for ZNPs which is due to their large excitation binding energy
at room temperature (reference). It is well known from absorption spectroscopy that the band gap
increases on decreasing particle size. There is also an opposite ratio between the band gap and the
wavelength of absorption. As we know, the absorption for bulk ZnO occurs around 385 nm. The high
blue shift absorption for the synthesized ZNPs in comparison with the bulk ZnO can be due to a high
decrease in particle size.

Reference ---N. Zarei, & M. A. Behnajady, J. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2016, 57(36), 16855–16861. DOI:
10.1080/19443994.2015.1083479
Figure 000. UV-Vis absorption spectra of synthesized ZnO NPs.
The XRD patterns of the synthesized samples with silver content are shown in Figure ()))). All the curves
in Figure )))))) clearly show two sets of tesserae peaks representing the synthesized products of high
crystallinity composite materials. The peaks appearing at angles of 31, 34, 36, 47, 56 and 62 are
associated with ZnO nanoparticles, which correspond to (100), (002), (101), (102), (110) planes. and
(103) and can be related to hexagonal wurtzite ZnO (JCPDS No. 1451-36) [83], while angles of 37, 45
and 64 can be attributed to cubic metallic silver (fcc) Kurd (JCPDS No. 0783-04) and correspond to
crystal coordinates (111), (200) and (220); No other crystalline impurities are observed [reference]. In
addition, there is no significant change in all the diffraction peaks, which means that the Zn solid
solution is not formed and the change in the network parameters of ZnO nanocrystals should be
insignificant.
peak position (2𝛳) FWHM(𝛽) Size (nm)
31.82968 0.20722 39.84996834
34.48826 0.19922 41.73752309
36.31137 0.2217 37.69632787 Average size (nm)
56.63108 0.29417 30.66427752 34.25309508
47.58988 0.2414 35.95255276
62.89255 0.30466 30.55310488
67.9679 0.3365 28.46063245
69.09937 0.33121 29.11037375

X-ray diffraction (XRD)

The XRD patterns of the synthesized samples with silver content are shown in Figure 2-4. All the curves
in Figure 2-4 clearly show two sets of tesserae peaks representing the synthesized products of high
crystallinity composite materials. The peaks appearing at angles of 31, 34, 36, 47, 56 and 62 are
associated with ZnO nanoparticles, which correspond to (100), (002), (101), (102), (110) planes. and
(103) and can be related to hexagonal wurtzite ZnO (JCPDS No. 1451-36) [83], while angles of 37, 45
and 64 can be attributed to cubic metallic silver (fcc) Kurd (JCPDS No. 0783-04) and correspond to
crystal coordinates (111), (200) and (220); No other crystalline impurities are observed [reference]. In
addition, there is no significant change in all the diffraction peaks, which means that the Zn solid
solution is not formed and the change in the network parameters of ZnO nanocrystals should be
insignificant.

Zhang, J., et al., Metal–organic framework-derived ZnO hollow nanocages functionalized with
nanoscale Ag catalysts for enhanced ethanol sensing properties. Sensors and Actuators
B: Chemical, 2019. 291: p. 458-469.
 ZNO
25000.000

20000.000
intensity (a.u)

15000.000

10000.000

5000.000

0.000 79.971, 385.358

0.000 20.000 40.000 60.000 80.000 100.000
2𝛳 (deg)

. XRD pattern of synthesized ZnO nanoparticles.

Scanning electron microscopy SEM analysis

The morphology of rod composites such ZnO with was observed by SEM, which is shown in Figure
below. The SEM image in Figure clearly shows that the synthesized zinc oxide particles are uniform
and have a rod shape with a diameter of 200 nm. It can be seen that the ZnO particles remained
nanoparticles micrographs of ZNPs proved that they had nano-sized range, spherical shape and
uniform distribution. The SEM results illustrated that using different precursors affected the size and
shape of the nanoparticles. As it is seen when using zinc acetate as a precursor, the zinc oxide
molecules grow slowly and form small spherical structures and accumulate like bullets. On the other
hand, by using zinc nitrate as a precursor, the spherical ZNPs are formed and the nanoparticles grow
and accumulate to form flower-shaped bundles. This agglomeration is due to polarity and electrostatic
attraction of ZnO nanoparticles.