Synthesis of Ag4Bi2O5 nanoparticles and evaluation of their photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Photocatalytic degradation has been recognized as one of the excellent and most efficient ways to remove organic pollutants. The Ag4Bi2O5 nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by precipitation technique to be employed as photocatalyst. Produced nanoparticles were explored through x-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The XRD and FE-SEM results indicated a pure orthorhombic structure with spherical morphology. The EDS pattern and elemental map findings confirmed the purity of NPs and uniform distribution of Ag, O, and Bi elements. The Ag4Bi2O5 NPs exhibited a band gap of ~2.92 eV according to DRS analysis. The visible-light photocatalytic performance of Ag4Bi2O5 NPs was assessed on methylene blue (MB) degradation. The MB degradation rate reached 87% under the optimal conditions. Moreover, high photocatalytic activity (about 90%) was observed after five cycles. Furthermore, the first-order kinetics can well describe the photocatalytic degradation of MB by Ag4Bi2O5 NPs.