Euphorbia heterophylla leaf extract mediated green synthesis of Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite and investigation of its excellent catalytic activity for reduction of variety of dyes in water

This work reports a facile and green synthesis of Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite by extract of leaves of Euphorbia heterophylla without any stabilizer or surfactant. The green synthesized Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and UV-vis. The Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite was found to be effective catalyst for reduction of various dyes, such as 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), Methyl orange (MO), Congo red (CR) and Methylene blue (MB) in the presence of NaBH4 in water at room temperature. Catalysis reactions were monitored by employing UV-vis spectroscopy. Catalysis reactions followed pseudo-first order rate equation. The catalyst can be recovered and reused several times without significant loss of its catalytic activity. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.