Abstract
The photocatalytic activity of Bi2O3 and Ag2O-Bi2O3 was evaluated by degradation of aqueous methyl orange as a model dye effluent. Bi2O3 was synthesized using chemical precipitation method. Structural analysis revealed that Bi2O3 contain a unique well-crystallized phase and the average crystallite size of 22.4 nm. The SEM analysis showed that the size of Bi2O3 particles was mainly in the range of 16-22 nm. The most important variables affecting the photocatalytic degradation of dyes, namely reaction time, initial pH and catalyst dosage were studied, and their optimal amounts were found at 60 min, 5.58 and 0.025 g, respectively. A good correlation was found between experimental and predicted responses, confirming the reliability of the model. Incorporation of Ag2O in the structure of composite caused decreasing band gap and its response to visible light. Because a high percentage of sunlight is visible light, hence Ag2O-Bi2O3 nano-composite could be used as an efficient visible light driven photocatalyst for degradation of dye effluents by sunlight.
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