Solar-Assisted photocatalytic elimination of Azo dye effluent using plasmonic AgCl anchored flower-like Bi4O5I2 as staggered nano-sized photocatalyst designed via sono-precipitation method

In this study, photocatalytic elimination of colour effluent was evaluated by novel 3D flower-like AgClBi4O5I2 microsphere type II nano-heterojunction semiconductors with surface plasmonic properties which were fabricated by sono-precipitation method. To investigate the influence of ultrasound irradiance and select the sample that could have the highest removal rate of acid orange 7, the samples with various weighted percentages of AgCl and Bi4O5I2 were synthesized. To address the physicochemical characteristics of samples; XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, AFM, EDX, BET-BJH, DRS, PL and pHpzc were utilized. The XRD analysis confirmed the formation of desired crystalline phases, and EDX, AFM and HRTEM analysis also showed that spr-AgCl-Bi4O5I2-U (1:3) photocatalyst has a very good distribution of elements and nano heterostructure morphology. Moreover, spr-AgCl-Bi4O5I2-U (1:3) nano semiconductor is active in the visible light region regarding DRS consequences (Eg at about 2.37 eV). The separation of electron-holes also improved on sprAgCl-Bi4O5I2-U photocatalyst due to the type II nano-heterojunction formation in the interface of AgCl and Bi4O5I2. The highest removal of 100 mg/L of acid orange 7 was obtained over spr-AgCl-Bi4O5I2-U after 180 min illumination. (c) 2020 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.