Ag/Ag₂S-ZnO nanocomposites were prepared via a simple hydrothermal process followed by a plasmonic Ag⁺ reduction through a photo-deposition method. Ag₂S was introduced to narrow the overall composite bandgap and activate the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of the Ag⁺ cation present. The physicochemical properties of the as-synthesised catalysts were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Ultraviolet diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS), photoluminescence emission spectra (PL) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was conducted to investigate the photo-absorption and emission spectra of the nanocomposites. The degradation efficiency of all the synthesised catalysts (ZnO, Ag₂S, Ag/ZnO and Ag₂S/ZnO) prior to the final product, Ag/Ag₂S/ZnO was tested and compared. Results showed that the ternary Ag/Ag2S/ZnO achieved a 98 % phenol removal compared to 50 %, 11 %, 64 % and 93 % for ZnO, Ag2S, Ag/ZnO and binary Ag2S/ZnO, respectively. The degradation kinetics followed the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model, which typically describes heterogeneous photocatalytic surface reactions. The linear fits had R² values higher than 0.97, which confirms the degree of accuracy or statistical fitness to the kinetic model. Degradation scavenger test confirmed the holes (h⁺) as the main inhibitor and identified the superoxide O₂•¯ radical as the main active specie responsible for the degradation. Total organic carbon analysis using the ternary Ag/Ag₂S-ZnO catalyst only achieved a 74% phenol mineralization after 24 h of photocatalysis. Recyclability tests showed good phenol removal stability of Ag/Ag₂S-ZnO at 41 % after five recycle runs. Hence, a synergistic degradation mechanism responsible for the efficient photo-degradation performance was proposed.

Ag/Ag ₂ S-ZnO 纳米复合材料通过简单的水热工艺制备，然后通过光沉积法进行等离子体 Ag ^+还原。引入Ag ₂ S 以缩小整体复合带隙并激活 Ag ^{+的表面等离子共振 (SPR) 效应}存在的阳离子。所合成的催化剂的物理化学性质通过 X 射线衍射 (XRD)、扫描和透射电子显微镜 (SEM 和 TEM)、Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) 分析来表征。傅里叶变换红外光谱 (FTIR)、紫外漫反射光谱 (UV-vis DRS)、光致发光发射光谱 (PL) 和 X 射线光电子能谱 (XPS) 用于研究纳米复合材料的光吸收和发射光谱。所有合成催化剂（ZnO、Ag ₂ S、Ag/ZnO 和 Ag ₂ S/ZnO）在最终产品 Ag/Ag _{2之前的降解效率}对 S/ZnO 进行了测试和比较。结果表明，三元 Ag/Ag2S/ZnO 的苯酚去除率分别为 98%，而 ZnO、Ag2S、Ag/ZnO 和二元 Ag2S/ZnO 的苯酚去除率分别为 50%、11%、64% 和 93%。降解动力学遵循 Langmuir-Hinshelwood 模型，该模型通常描述非均相光催化表面反应。线性拟合的 R ²值高于 0.97，这证实了动力学模型的准确度或统计拟合度。降解清除剂试验证实空穴(h ⁺ ) 是主要的抑制剂，并确定超氧化物O ₂ •¯ 自由基是降解的主要活性物质。_{使用三元 Ag/Ag 2}进行总有机碳分析S-ZnO 催化剂在光催化 24 小时后仅实现了 74% 的苯酚矿化。可循环性测试表明，经过五次循环运行后，Ag/Ag _{2 S-ZnO 在 41% 时具有良好的苯酚去除稳定性。}因此，提出了一种负责高效光降解性能的协同降解机制。