Hydrothermally generated and highly efficient sunlight responsive SiO2 and TiO2 capped Ag2S nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes

Here, we report the synthesis of bare Ag2S nanoparticles (NPs), SiO2 and TiO2 capped Ag2S nanocomposites (NCs) by a simple one-pot hydrothermal method. The Ag2S NCs, prepared by hydrothermal treatment, could be maintained and uniformly distributed on the surface of SiO2 and TiO2 precursors. The physicochemical properties of the prepared photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA, FTIR, zeta potential, PL, and UV-vis DRS. The synthesized Ag2S NPs, SiO2 and TiO2 capped Ag2S NCs were showed strong spectral absorption capabilities in the visible regions. The diameter of prepared Ag2S NPs, SiO2 and TiO2 capped Ag2S NCs are observed to be in the range of 10-30 nm. Consequently, they exhibited the prominent photocatalytic behavior of the prepared Ag2S samples for the degradation of Eosin Y (EY) and Safranin O (SO) dyes under sunlight irradiation. It shows that TiO2 capped Ag2S NCs has exhibited an excellent photocatalytic activity in the degradation of EY (96.41%) and SO (91.38%) dyes than the bare Ag2S NPs and SiO2 capped Ag2S NCs. The extent of degradation was confirmed performing TOC analysis, and over 85% TOC removal was achieved. The photo catalytic degradation of EY and SO dyes was followed pseudo-first order kinetics. The prepared composite materials present properties which are highly promising for environmental clean-up applications.