Microwave- and Formaldehyde-Assisted Synthesis of Ag–Ag₃PO₄ with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity for the Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye and Crude Oil Fractions

Nyankson, Emmanuel; Amedalor, Reuben; Chandrabose, Gauthaman; Coto, Michael; Krishnamurthy, Satheesh and Kumar, R. Vasant (2020). Microwave- and Formaldehyde-Assisted Synthesis of Ag–Ag₃PO₄ with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity for the Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye and Crude Oil Fractions. ACS Omega, 5(23) pp. 13641–13655.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c00670

Abstract

The release of crude oil and water-soluble dyes into our marine environment is a major global problem. An efficient semiconductor Ag–Ag₃PO₄ photocatalyst was synthesized using formaldehyde as a reducing agent to form surface active Ag on Ag₃PO₄ under microwave radiation for heating, and its potential in destroying environmental pollutants has been examined. The diffuse reflectance spectroscopy of Ag–Ag₃PO₄ revealed an enhanced absorption in the visible light region. The rate of photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B by Ag–Ag₃PO₄ was over 4-fold compared to Ag₃PO₄. The potential application of Ag–Ag₃PO₄ in oil spill remediation was also examined through photocatalytic degradation of benzene, n-hexane, and 1:1 v/v benzene/methanol crude oil-soluble fractions. UV–vis and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the crude oil components after visible light irradiation showed excellent degradation. The photocatalytic efficiency enhancement of Ag–Ag₃PO₄ is attributed to the excellent electron trapping of silver nanoparticles deposited on the surface of Ag₃PO₄. This work will motivate future studies to develop recyclable visible light photocatalysts for many applications.

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