Photocatalytic activation of Ag-doped SrSnO3 nanorods under visible light for reduction of p-nitrophenol and methylene blue mineralization
Zaynab Ghubish, R. Kamal, Hala R. Mahmoud, M. Saif, H. Hafez, Maged El‐Kemary
Abstract
Abstract The utilization of solar energy for the treatment of wastewater pollutants by photocatalysts has been considered a promising solution to address environmental problems. Herein, we have synthesized silver nanoparticle-doped strontium stannate (Ag-doped SrSnO 3 ) nanorods by hydrothermal method followed by ultrasonic treatment. The developed nanocomposites were applied for photocatalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol (4-NP) and methylene blue (MB) mineralization under visible light illumination. The effect of hydrothermal duration time (16–25) h, Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) concentration (0.5–2.5) wt% on the crystal, surface, optical, photoluminescence as well as photocatalytic activity were studied. A well-defined crystalline cubic phase of SrSnO 3 was obtained. CTAB inhibits the crystal growth of SrSnO 3. Reduction of 4-NP and MB mineralization were used as two-model reactions for testing the effect of Ag doping concentration on the photocatalytic activities of Ag/SrSnO 3 under visible light illumination. The obtained results show that 2.0 wt% of Ag-doped SrSnO 3 exhibits efficient photocatalytic reduction of 4-NP with 98.2% conversion within 5 min of reaction time. Also, 87% of the MB sample was mineralized after 1 h of visible illumination using 2.0% Ag/SrSnO 3 in the presence of H 2 O 2 . Besides, we have discussed the possible photocatalytic mechanism for reduction of 4-NP and mineralization of MB using 2.0 wt% of Ag doped SrSnO 3 under visible light illumination.