Effective photodegradation of organic water pollutants by the facile synthesis of Ag2O nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, Ag2O nanoparticles were synthesized using a low-cost precipitation method. The synthesized nanomaterials are characterized by XRD, FTIR, XPS, Photoluminescence, and EDX. The shape and excellent size of incorporated Ag2O nanoparticles were exhibited utilizing SEM and XRD. XRD patterns of precipitated Ag2O powders indicated a cubic structure with crystallite diameters of 18.5 nm, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine-B (Rh-B) gathered from the dyeing industry was used to examine the Ag2O nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activity of Rh-B degradation in an aqueous solution was also studied; this process resulted in a 76 % reduction of the dye in 60 minutes when exposed to UV-visible light. In the instance of pseudo first-order reaction kinetics, this corresponds to rate constants of 0.99804 min−1. As a result, precipitation was used to increase the photocatalytic activity of Ag2O nanostructures. The findings provide a pathway to developing advanced photocatalysts that may effectively remove organic contaminants in water using just visible light.