Zirconium and silver co-doped TiO2 nanoparticles as visible light catalyst for reduction of 4-nitrophenol, degradation of methyl orange and methylene blue

•Simple sol–gel synthesis of Zr and Ag co-doped TiO2 nanoparticles is described.•Effective photocatalysis for the reduction of nitrophenol and degradation of dyes shown.•Recycling of photocatalyst up to 4 cycles discussed as promising industrial application.

Catalytic activity of Zr and Ag co-doped TiO2 nanoparticles on the reduction of 4-nitrophenol, degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange was studied using sodium borohydride as reducing agent. The nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The rate of the reduction/degradation was found to increase with increasing amount of the photocatalyst which could be attributed to higher dispersity and small size of the nanoparticles. The catalytic activity of Zr and Ag co-doped TiO2 nanoparticles showed no significant difference even after recycling the catalyst four times indicating a promising potential for industrial application of the prepared photocatalyst.

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