Ag2S nanoparticle encapsulated in mesoporous material nanoparticles and its application for photocatalytic degradation of dye in aqueous solution

Semiconductor loaded mesoporous materials in general possess greater photocatalytic activity than pure semiconductors. Hence, with an attempt to achieve higher photocatalytic activity, Ag2S/MCM-41 photocatalysts were prepared by ion exchange method and used for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. The materials were characterized by different analytical techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and BET (Brunauer-Emmert-Teller) experiments. The effect of Ag2S, MCM-41 support and different wt% of Ag2S over the support on the photocatalytic degradation and influence of parameters such as Ag2S loading, catalyst a mount, pH and initial concentration of dye on degradation are evaluated. The degradation reaction follows pseudo-first order kinetics. It was seen that 0.6 g/L of photocatalyst is an optimum value for the dosage of photocatalyst. The degradation efficiency was decreased in dye concentration above 3.2 ppm for dye.

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► Ag2S nanostructures were prepared via a simple ion exchange process.
► The Ag2S/MCM-41 photocatalyst has shown a higher activity compared to bulk Ag2S.
► The photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, IR and BET.