Anodizing of commercial galvanized mesh followed by electroless decorating of Ag nanoparticles for application as novel and low-cost photocatalyst for degradation of both dye and microbiological pollutants

Abstract

In the current work, novel and low-cost photocatalyst-mesh for effective degradation of both dye and microbiological pollutants is introduced. The Ag nanoparticles/anodized galvanized meshes (AgNPs/AGMs) were easily fabricated through electrochemical anodization of commercially galvanized meshes, calcination in the optimized temperature and finally deposition of Ag nanoparticles via electroless treatment. Effective parameters on photocatalytic behaviors of photocatalyst-meshes containing anodizing voltage, anodizing time, calcination temperature and electroless time of AgNPs were carefully optimized. Surface morphology and photocatalytic characterization of meshes were studied by FESEM, ATR-IR, XRD, EDX, UV–Vis DRS and EIS analyses. Antibacterial activities of meshes for degradation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria were investigated in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) and Mueller-Hinton Broth (MHB) at 37 °C for 18 h. The AgNPs/AGMs revealed significant photocatalytic activity as well as recyclability for degradation of methylene blue dye under UV-light irradiation within 30 min (79.52 %). Moreover, the AgNPs/AGMs exhibited excellent E. coli and S. aureus inactivation efficiency compared to AGMs and bare galvanized meshes. It is expected that AgNPs/AGMs can be used as suitable photocatalysts for degradation of both chemical and biological pollutants in industrial scale.