Green and reusable Ag/AgCl-TiO2 nanocomposites for visible light-triggered dye degradation

Ag/AgCl-TiO2 plasmonic nanocomposites (NCs) are endowed with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity. However, only a few studies investigated environmentally friendly approaches to their synthesis. In this work, Ag/AgCl-TiO2 NCs at five different compositions were prepared in a single-step process by a green and cost-effective route, using Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad aqueous extract. The role of the aque-ous plant extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent, and the formation of the NCs were evidenced by several techniques, including FT-IR, EDS, SEM, HRTEM, elemental mapping, and XRD. The morphological analysis demonstrated that the NCs formed nanoaggregates with an average size of 30 nm. The synthe-sized Ag/AgCl-TiO2 NCs displayed a remarkable photoactivity in the visible light region, as confirmed by the significantly higher degradation rates of methyl orange (MO) compared to TiO2. In particular, the 15% Ag/TiO2 molar ratio sample revealed a MO degradation efficiency higher than 99% under visible light, and retained high photocatalytic activity even after several degradations runs. Overall, the green, cost-effective, and scalable synthesis of Ag/AgCl-TiO2 NCs herein reported provides a novel, more sustainable strategy for the high-efficiency modification of TiO2 photocatalyst in engineering and other environmen-tal applications. (c) 2022 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier BV and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Ag/AgCl-TiO2 plasmonic nanocomposites with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity were synthesized using a green and cost-effective approach. The synthesized nanocomposites showed significantly higher degradation rates of methyl orange (MO) compared to TiO2 under visible light. Among them, the sample with a 15% Ag/TiO2 molar ratio exhibited a MO degradation efficiency higher than 99% and maintained high photocatalytic activity even after several degradation runs. This study provides a novel and more sustainable strategy for the efficient modification of TiO2 photocatalyst in engineering and environmental applications.