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Micro flowers composed of nanosheets Ag salts composite as n-p type semiconductor: an efficient photocatalyst under visible irradiation

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Abstract

We designed a new photocatalyst on the basis of a layered double hydroxide (MgAl-LDH), silver sulfide (Ag2S), and AgPW12O40 (AgPW) for dye removal. Several characterization methods were used to determine the structure of the catalyst, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer (DRS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Seven catalysts with different components composition were produced. Not much change in the Ag2S weight percentage was more effective than AgPW. The formation of MgAl-LDH/Ag2S/AgPW heterojunction by the mass ratio of 4:1.2:1 along with its acceptable reusability enhanced the photocatalytic activity in photodegradation under visible light as compared to the bare MgAl-LDH, Ag2S, and AgPW. According to the optimization process, dye concentration of 5 mg/L, MgAl-LDH/Ag2S/AgPW photocatalyst with mass ratio of 4:1.2:1 (Cat IV), catalyst loading of 2 g/L, initial pH of 6, and reaction time of 90 min were selected as optimum process conditions. By these conditions, the optimum degradation of Rh.B under visible light was 99.6%. Mechanism investigation showed that 1O2 play the main role in photocatalytic process. Cat IV as the best composite showed prolonged life-time based on the Bode plot. Also based on the Nyquist and Tauc plots, this composite act as a superconductor. Flat band energies and donor densities of nanocomposites were evaluated from Mott–Schottky plots.

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The data sets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Razi University Research Council for partial support of this work.

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  1. Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Razi University, Kermanshah, 6714414971, Iran

    M. Karimi & E. Rafiee

  2. Faculty of Chemistry, Razi University, Kermanshah, 6714414971, Iran

    E. Rafiee

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Supervision; Writing-Reviewing and Editing were performed by Dr. ER. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Dr. MK. Also investigating and formal analysis were performed by Dr. MK. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Karimi, M., Rafiee, E. Micro flowers composed of nanosheets Ag salts composite as n-p type semiconductor: an efficient photocatalyst under visible irradiation. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 23325–23340 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09081-0

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