Sonochemical synthesis of solar-light-driven Ag°-PbMoO_4 photocatalyst

摘要

Ag°-PbMoO_4 photocatalysts were synthesized by facile sonochemical method with different mol.% of Ag nanoparticles dispersed on the surface of PbMoO_4. The synthesized powders were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) Spectroscopy, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) to investigate the crystal structure, morphology, chemical composition, and optical properties of the photocatalyst. Photocatalytic activities of the Ag°-PbMoO_4 samples were evaluated by the degradation of Indigo Carmine (IC) dye under simulated solar light irradiation. It has been observed that the sample containing 0.3 mol.% of Ag showed the best photocatalytic activity as compared to other samples. The results suggest that the dispersion of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of PbMoO_4 significantly enhances the photocatalytic activity of PbMoO_4. Increase in photocatalytic activity of Ag°-PbMoO_4 photocatalyst has been explained on the basis of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect caused by the silver nanoparticles present in the photocatalyst.