Fast and efficient degradation of water pollutant dyes and fungicide by novel sulfur-doped graphene oxide-modified Ag3PO4 nanocomposite.

Abstract

The sulfur-doped graphene oxide (sGO)-integrated Ag3PO4 composite displayed very high catalytic activity toward prominent water pollutants like textile dyes and fungicide under sunlight. The optimum amount of sGO doping was found as 5% for degradation. The novel composite degraded 99% of methylene blue (MB) in only 5min of sunlight exposure, which is 16 and 8 times faster than Ag3PO4 and 5% GO-Ag3PO4. High mineralization was observed for MB with a total organic carbon (TOC) removal of 98% in 30min. The composite mineralized rhodamine B, methyl orange, and acid red 18 dyes with a TOC removal above 95%. Moreover, a toxic dithiocarbamate fungicide thiram was degraded in 1h with a TOC removal of 82% leaving less toxic thiourea. The formation of sGO-Ag3PO4 n-n heterojunction increases charge transport and photocatalytic activity of the composite to incredible extent along with hollow morphology and in situ formed Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs).