Enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of silver–zirconia nanoparticles for environmental pollution treatment

Abstract Silver–zirconia nanoparticles (Ag–ZrO 2 NPs) were synthesized via an in situ strategy at room temperature using NaBH 4 as a reducing agent. The surface modification of ZrO 2 nanoparticles with nano silver was confirmed through various characterization techniques including Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The obtained results demonstrated that Ag nanoparticles, with a crystallite size of approximately 12 nm, were uniformly distributed on the surface of ZrO 2 nanoparticles. The incorporation of Ag nanoparticles to the ZrO 2 nanoparticles led to increasing the light absorption ability and reducing the band gap of Ag–ZrO 2 nanoparticles, thereby enhancing their photocatalytic performance under infrared lamp exposure. When 1 g/L of Ag–ZrO 2 nanoparticles was employed to methylene blue (MB) solution, the degradation of MB reached 90 % after 5 h of exposure. Additionally, the Ag–ZrO 2 nanoparticles exhibited a high antibacterial activity against two bacterial strains, E. coli and S. aureus . These findings highlight the potential of Ag–ZrO 2 nanoparticles as effective materials for environmental pollution treatment through advanced oxidation processes.