Synthesis and characterization of Ag–ZnO nanocomposites

This study focuses on synthesizing a hybrid nanocomposite of silver (Ag) and zinc oxide (ZnO) by utilizing their bulk salts as precursors to form the Ag–ZnO nanocomposite. Silver (Ag) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles are synthesized via a chemical reduction method, followed by co-mixing and calcination processes to produce the Ag–ZnO nanocomposite. The synthesized nanoparticles are characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), high resolution (HRXRD), and energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX) to determine their morphological attributes, crystallographic structure, and elemental composition. The crystallinity pattern revealed distinct reflections corresponding to face-centered cubic (FCC) silver (Ag) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. The XRD peaks of the Ag–ZnO heterostructure confirmed its formation, which aligns well with SEM images. These images demonstrated isotropic Ag–ZnO structures under certain conditions and anisotropic Ag– ZnO structures under others, reflecting the influence of varying synthesis parameters on the material's morphology.