Phytochemical Preparation, Characterization and Photocatalytic Applications of Ag-TiO2 Nanocatalyst

Abstract

Green chemical approach is adopted for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Since the nanoparticles tend to aggregate during the course of the catalytic reaction, they need to be stabilized by employing a suitable template or a support. Hence the prepared nanoparticles were loaded on titania support and used as a photocatalyst. Silver loaded titania (Ag-TiO2) is characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Prepared composite was also tested for its photocatalytic activity against the degradation of an industrial pollutant Rhodamine B dye. Effect of pH, ratio between the catalyst and the substrate and also the role of free radical generator in the degradation have been tested and summarized in this work.Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, Phytochemical preparation, Green chemical approach, Photocatalysis, Rhodamine B