Degradation of 4-aminopyridine using bio-mediated Ag-doped Cu2O nanoparticles under visible light

Bio-mediated Ag-doped cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Ag@Cu2O NPs) were synthesised using Tabernaemontana divaricate leaves extract, as a reducing agent for the reduction Ag+ to Ag0. Synthesised Ag@Cu2O NPs were characterised by several techniques such as UV–Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR and XRD. Doping Ag onto Cu2O nanoparticles reduced the bandgap of Cu2O to 1.8 eV from 2.1 eV and enhanced photocurrent. The crystallite size of prepared Ag@Cu2O NPs was estimated to be 48 nm using Scherrer’s equation. The photocatalytic activity of Ag@Cu2O NPs was tested against 4-aminopyridine under visible light. The synthesised photocatalysis showed 95% degradation efficiency and 98% chemical oxygen demand removal for 4-aminopyridine at optimized conditions (4-aminopyridine: 5 ppm, catalyst dosage: 0.8 g/L and temperature 30 °C) after 235 min of reaction time at pH 3. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.