PPy-assisted fabrication of Ag/TiO2 visible-light photocatalyst and its immobilization on PAN fiber

• An effective visible light-responsive Ag/TiO2 photocatalyst was fabricated by calcination after removal of PPy-assisted template.
• Ag/TiO2 NPs with low band energy of 2.95 eV exhibit an enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity.
• Ag/TiO2-coated PAN fiber, as an easy handling photocatalyst, was fabricated by a co-dispersion solution dip-coating method.

Sliver-coated titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Ag/TiO2 NPs) were successfully fabricated by calcination after removal of polypyrrole (PPy)-assisted template which was synthesized by chemical redox polymerization and deposited onto TiO2 NPs. The microstructure, composition and photocatalytic activity of Ag/TiO2 NPs were investigated by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction analyses (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–visible absorption spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). The results reveal that Ag/TiO2 NPs have a lower energy band (2.95 eV) than core-shell PPy-Ag/TiO2 (3.06 eV), which is responsible for high photocatalytic activity. Rhodamine B (RhB) and Methylene blue (MB) can be significantly degraded in the presence of Ag/TiO2 NPs under visible light irradiation. From an application point of view, as-prepared Ag/TiO2 NPs were immobilized on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber by a co-dispersion solution dip-coating method. Ag/TiO2-coated PAN fibers have an excellent performance for both dye degradation and reusability, which shows great potential as an environment-friendly, easy handling and recyclable photocatalyst for dye effluent treatment.

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