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

Effect of CTAB concentration on the performance of photoelectrochemical water splitting using silver nanosheets-coated ZnO photoanode

L. Roza and M. Y. A. Rahman

Research Center for Nanotechnology Systems, National Research and Innovation Agency, South Tangerang, Indonesia

E-mail: liszulfah.roza@brin.go.id

Received: 23 August 2025  Accepted: 24 December 2025

Abstract:

The problem statement of this work is to understand the capping and stabilization mechanism of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) on AgNPs and how it controls their size, SPR response, and reduction kinetics. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of CTAB concentration on the properties of ZnO/AgNPs and the performance of the PECWS system using ZnO/AgNPs photocatalyst. The aim of this work is also to identify the CTAB concentration that yields the highest short-circuit photocurrent density (J_sc) and applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE). The morphology of Ag-ZnO is nanosheet with its size decreases with CTAB concentration. The study found that AgNPs coating on the surface of ZnO enhances their light absorption in the visible spectrum. However, CTAB concentrations direct effect on absorption remains uncertain, as does any significant alteration in the photoanode bandgap energy. The performance tests on the PEC-WS system indicate the ZnO/AgNPs with 6 mM of CTAB exhibited the highest applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE) with the value of 0.14% and the highest short-circuit current density (J_sc) of 0.48 mA cm⁻², while the pristine ZnO achieved the ABPE of 0.04%. These are due to the shift in the SPR band, affecting the ZnO/Ag optical properties and its interaction with light. The deposition of AgNPs with the optimum CTAB concentration increases the surface area of the ZnO, which creates more active sites for photocatalytic reaction and enhance the photoelectrochemical water splitting (PECWS) performance.

Keywords: Ag nanoparticles; Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide; Photoelectrochemical water splitting; ZnO

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-025-04622-3

Chemical Papers 80 (4) 3407–3418 (2026)