Highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye over Ag2O nanoparticles under solar light irradiation

Silver (I) oxide (Ag2O) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by a simple solution reduction method. The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques. The characterization results revealed the Ag2O NPs structure, shape, energy gap, and functional group variations. The energy band gap was calculated using Tauc's relation and found to be 3.42 eV. The Ag2O NPs obtained have a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 171 +/- 82.8 nm dispersed in water. The synthesized Ag2O NPs were tested for their photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye under solar light illumination and maximum removal efficiency of 91.5 % in 70 min was obtained. Further, the photodegradation data can be described satisfactorily with pseudo-first-order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.0319 min(-1) and a half-life time of 21.72 min.

Automated summary

Silver (I) oxide (Ag2O) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by solution reduction. The Ag2O NPs were characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM, DRS, and DLS techniques. The results showed the structure, shape, energy gap, and functional group variations of Ag2O NPs. The synthesized Ag2O NPs exhibited a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 171 +/- 82.8 nm in water. The photocatalytic activity of Ag2O NPs towards the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye under solar light was tested, and a maximum removal efficiency of 91.5% in 70 min was achieved. The photodegradation data followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.0319 min(-1) and a half-life time of 21.72 min.