Sun light driven photocatalytic performance of Ag decorated TiO2 nanocomposite thin films by sol gel method

Abstract High performance, low cost photocatalysts are essential for water treatment applications. However the existing majority of the photocatalysts limited to Ultra violet and visible region only. Besides the fabrication of photocatalysts, there is a huge demand for low cost, recyclable and solar light trapping photocatalysts, thereby effectively remove the organic pollutants present in water. Here, we have synthesized the solar light active Ag loaded TiO2 nanocomposite thin films by sol gel method. X ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV–visible spectroscopy were applied to characterizing the product. The results show that we successfully synthesized the silver doped titanium dioxide thin films. The silver doped titanium dioxide thin films show red shift and broad absorption band in the whole UV visible region in comparison with bare titanium dioxide. The results show that the Ag-TiO2 nanocomposite exhibit best photocatalytic efficiency under direct sun-light irradiation due to increased electron transfer and charge separation. The photodegradation activities of the Ag doped TiO2 were studied with model organic pollutants. Ag doped TiO2 sample showed 98% degradation efficiency in just 70 min under sun light irradiation. Repeated cycle runs revealed that these catalysts exhibit reusability and excellent stability, able to trap solar light efficiently and suitable for degradation of many organic pollutants. The performances of the Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites indicate that, these catalysts can find potential applications in photocatalytic water treatment plants.