Improving Photocatalytic Efficiency: Harnessing the Importance of Ag@HfO2 Core-Shell Nanostructures

Pollution of fresh water has resulted from waste generated by agricultural and industrial activities. The pollutants need to be removed from water owing to the growing demand for drinking water due to an increase in the population. Hence, the effective treatment of synthetic dyes and their release into the environment is crucial. Ag@HfO2 core-shell nanostructures were synthesized and presented as a new catalyst for removing cationic dyes - such as rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB), and direct red-23 (DR-23) - from wastewater in this study. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-Vis, and photoluminescence spectroscopies were employed to verify the synthesis success of Ag@HfO2 core-shell nanostructures in this study. The Ag@HfO2 core-shell nanostructures' effectiveness for photodegradation was tested by removing dyes associated with photocatalytic measurements with high efficiency in both the UV and visible regions. The results are expected to contribute towards solving an environmental health issue deemed critical.