Photocatalytic effect of Ag and Ag/Pt doped silicate non crystalline material on methyl violet — Experimental and theoretical studies

•Ag/Pt doped silicate materials were prepared by sol–gel method.•Characterization by SEM, TEM, RAMAN, XRD and UV–visible DRS analysis•Ag/Pt doped silicate catalyzed photodegradation of methyl violet was examined.•The pore size of the silica model has been determined using DFT method.•Mechanism of photocatalytic effect of bimetal doped silicate material was discussed.

Ag/Pt bimetallic nanoparticles are the recent research interest because of their high catalytic activity and tunable surface plasmon resonance. The prepared nanobimetal (Ag/Pt) doped silicate material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopic image, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Ultra Violet–visible diffuse reflectance spectral analysis (UV–visible DRS). Photodegradation and decolorization of methyl violet (MV) on Ag and Ag/Pt doped silicate material by using UV light has been studied. The mechanism of photocatalytic effect of nanobimetal doped silicate material has been discussed. A theoretical IR study on the silicate structure model was discussed. Silicate pore size has been calculated by using DFT method to ascertain the doping.