Photocatalytic treatment of dye wastewater and parametric study using a novel Z-scheme Ag2CO3/SiC photocatalyst under natural sunlight

Ag2CO3 is a known photocatalyst active in the visible region of solar spectrum. In the present study, a series of novel hybrid Ag2CO3/SiC nanostructures have been successfully synthesised through a simple precipitation route. The photocatalytic performance was evaluated by the degradation of MB under natural solar irradiation. It was observed that heterojunction with SiC improves its photoactivity by inducing a charge transfer between SiC and Ag2CO3 mimicking the Z-scheme in photosynthesis, proved by scavenger studies. The photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM with EDX, TEM, TGA-DTG and UV-Vis/NIR. The best photocatalytic results and formal quantum efficiency (FQE) under natural sunlight were obtained with SCSC-12 nano-composite. The percentage photo-discolouration of MB over SCSC-12 was 98% against 90% with conventional TiO2. Factors viz., photocatalyst dosage, solution pH, solar intensity, substrate and its initial concentration and speed of agitation were found to influence photo-treatment. Corresponding optimum parametric values have been found and reported in terms of FQE. As a case study, performance of the photocatalyst was investigated on a real industrial effluent and rate expression developed in terms of TOC and [TOC](0). The present work, which includes a parametric study, has been carried out in direct solar light and is expected to be useful in real-time solar photocatalytic design of reactors and other solar applications for environmental remediation.