AgVO3 nanorods: Synthesis, characterization and visible light photocatalytic activity

• AgVO3 nanorods are synthesized by thermal decomposition method.
• AgVO3 nanorods show enhanced photodegradation towards methylene blue.
• AgVO3 also exhibits photocatalytic activity towards industrial effluents.
• Possible photodegradation mechanism has also been proposed.

Large scale and high purity silver vanadate (AgVO3) nanorods were synthesized by thermal decomposition method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Ultraviolet–Visible (DRS-UV-Visible) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the structure, light absorption capacity and morphology of the as-synthesized sample. The photocatalytic activity of AgVO3 nanorods was examined by degradation of methylene blue (MB) as a model organic pollutant. The degradation efficiency is 85.02% in the 120 min visible light illumination. Further, the AgVO3 nanorods were used as a photocatalyst for industrial effluent. 95.4% degradation efficiency was obtained within the visible light irradiation of 120 min. The possible photocatalytic mechanism has also been proposed.

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