Fabrication of Ag loaded Bi3NbO7 nanoparticles and its photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

• The Ag loaded Bi3NbO7 photocatalyst (Ag/Bi3NbO7) was prepared by co-precipitation and photo-reduction methods.
• The degradation rate constant over Ag/Bi3NbO7 with Ag loading of 2 wt% was 7.81 times that of bulk Bi3NbO7 catalyst.
• The photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.

A nanostructured Ag loaded Bi3NbO7 photocatalyst was synthesized by the co-precipitation combined with photodeposition method, and characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, BET nitrogen adsorption–desorption, and UV–vis DRS. Photocatalytic activities of the Ag/Bi3NbO7 samples were evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation. It was shown that the best photocatalytic activity was obtained on sample with Ag loading level of 2 wt%. It was suggested that the increase in photocatalytic activity of Ag/Bi3NbO7 photocatalyst was explained on the basis of the electron trapping ability, the electron exciting ability and the surface plasmon resonance effect of metallic Ag particles.

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