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Remarkable sunlight-driven photocatalytic performance of Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by green synthesis for degradation of emerging pollutants in water

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Abstract

In this work, Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by a simple green method using a toxic agent-free route for photocatalytic purposes, toward methylene blue (MB) removal in water under sunlight irradiation. The effects of operating parameters, such as catalyst dosage, dye concentration, and pH, on the MB removal efficiency, were investigated. The presence of Ag on the ZnO structure resulted in superior catalytic activity compared to the pure ZnO sample. High removal efficiency for MB, corresponding to 95%, was obtained in 30 min of reaction time only, using Ag-doped ZnO NPs. This result can be related to its smaller bandgap energy (1.92 eV) when compared to the ZnO sample (2.85 eV). The material presented a satisfactory level of reusability after three consecutive cycles. In addition, a reaction mechanism for MB photodegradation onto Ag-doped ZnO NPs under sunlight irradiation was suggested. Overall, the catalyst prepared via the green route in this work exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity under sunlight for MB degradation in an aqueous solution.

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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

S.S.R. Inbanathan wishes to thank UGC-DAE- CSR, Indore Center, India.

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Conceptualization: (M. Jarvin); Methodology: (S. Ashok Kumar, D. Rani Rosaline), Formal analysis and investigation: (S. Ashok Kumar, D. Rani Rosaline); Writing—original draft preparation: (M. Jarvin, S. Ashok Kumar, D. Rani Rosaline, S. S. R. Inbanathan); Writing—review and editing: (G. L. Dotto, E. L. Foletto); Funding acquisition: (S. S. R. Inbanathan); Supervision: (S. S. R. Inbanathan). All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Guilherme Luiz Dotto.

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Jarvin, M., Kumar, S.A., Rosaline, D.R. et al. Remarkable sunlight-driven photocatalytic performance of Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by green synthesis for degradation of emerging pollutants in water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 57330–57344 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19796-6

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