Fabrication of Ag-doped MoO3 and its nanohybrid with a two-dimensional carbonaceous material to enhance photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) carbon-based materials and their nanocomposites have gained considerable fascination as a photocatalysts due to their remarkable contribution towards photocatalytic water splitting and remediation. Herein, a novel 2D reduced graphene oxide (rGO) based silver doped molybdenum trioxide (Ag/MoO3) photocatalyst was synthesized successfully via hydrothermal and ultra-sonication methods. The surface structure, morphology, functional group characterization, and bandgap of the synthesized photocatalysts were analyzed using advanced physicochemical techniques. The photocatalytic performance of the prepared materials was scrutinized for Methylene blue (MB) dye degradation under solar light illumination.Because of its lower charge transfer resistance (19.54 Ω) and higher electrical conductivity (12.74 × 102 Sm−1) the rGO/Ag/MoO3 photocatalyst demonstrated significantly higher photocatalytic activity for dye removal than pure MoO3 and Ag/MoO3 photocatalysts. In particular, the rGO/Ag/MoO3 photocatalyst illustrated about 98% dye degradation at a rate constant (0.0571 min−1) greater than MoO3 (0.0097 min−1) and Ag/MoO3 (0.0184 min−1). Ag doping and the addition of rGO sheets led to enhanced optical absorbance and effectual separation of photo-induced electron-hole pairs, causing major progress in the photocatalytic behavior of MoO3. Transient photocurrent results revealed longstanding photo-excited charge carriers in the graphene-based material.