Ag2VO2PO4 Nanorods: Synthesis, Characterization, Photoactivity and Antibacterial activity

Silver-containing materials have been the source of attraction due to their excellent optical and photocatalytic properties. Silver vanadium phosphate, Ag2VO2PO4, (hereafter abbreviated as AVP) in nanorods form was synthesized by hydrothermal method at 220 degrees C for 24 h and characterized by PXRD, FT-IR, P-31 MAS NMR, SEM-EDS, TEM-SAED, N-2 adsorption-desorption, UV-Vis DRS and XPS techniques. It was crystallized in the monoclinic crystal lattice with space group C2/m and the crystal structure consists of layers of edge-sharing VO6 octahedra and PO4 tetrahedra. The Ag2VO2PO4 nanorods have shown the photocatalytic property against the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye. The degradation of RhB by AVP after 180 min of visible light irradiation was 45 %. The photocatalytic activity of this material was explained by its visible light absorption, which makes it a promising photocatalyst for use in solar photocatalysis and with a good photocatalytic rate. A mechanism for photodegradation of RhB dye was proposed based on scavenger experiments. It was noticed that (OH)-O-. radicals are actively participating in the degradation of RhB followed by holes while the role of O-2(.-) radicals is negligible. Antibacterial activity of this material was studied over gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.