Facile Preparation of a Bispherical Silver–Carbon Photocatalyst and Its Enhanced Degradation Efficiency of Methylene Blue, Rhodamine B, and Methyl Orange under UV Light

Abstract

The combination of organic and inorganic materials is attracting attention as a photocatalyst that promotes the decomposition of organic dyes. A facile thermal procedure has been proposed to produce spherical silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), carbon nanospheres (CNSs), and a bispherical AgNP–CNS nanocomposite. The AgNPs and CNSs were each synthesized from silver acetate and glucose via single- and two-step annealing processes under sealed conditions, respectively. The AgNP–CNS nanocomposite was synthesized by the thermolysis of a mixture of silver acetate and a mesophase, where the mesophase was formed by annealing glucose in a sealed vessel at 190 °C. The physicochemical features of the as-prepared nanoparticles and composite were evaluated using several analytical techniques, revealing (i) increased light absorption, (ii) a reduced bandgap, (iii) the presence of chemical interfacial heterojunctions, (iv) an increased specific surface area, and (v) favorable band-edge positions of the AgNP–CNS nanocomposite compared with those of the individual AgNP and CNS components. These characteristics led to the excellent photocatalytic efficacy of the AgNP–CNS nanocomposite for the decomposition of three pollutant dyes under ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the AgNP–CNS nanocomposite, the light absorption and UV utilization capacity increased at more active sites. In addition, effective electron–hole separation at the heterojunction between the AgNPs and CNSs was possible under favorable band-edge conditions, resulting in the creation of reactive oxygen species. The decomposition rates of methylene blue were 95.2, 80.2, and 73.2% after 60 min in the presence of the AgNP–CNS nanocomposite, AgNPs, and CNSs, respectively. We also evaluated the photocatalytic degradation efficiency at various pH values and loadings (catalysts and dyes) with the AgNP–CNS nanocomposite. The AgNP–CNS nanocomposite was structurally rigid, resulting in 93.2% degradation of MB after five cycles of photocatalytic degradation.

Keywords

• bispherical nanocomposite
• photocatalysts
• spherical silver nanoparticles
• carbon nanospheres
• reduced bandgap
• Z-scheme process