A novel series of Ag, Cu, and Sn ions incorporated defect pyrochlore K2Ta2O6 photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by facile ion exchange method whereas pristine K2Ta2O6 was prepared by conventional hydrothermal method. All the samples were amply characterized by powder X‐ray Diffraction (PXRD), ultraviolet‐visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV‐Vis DRS), scanning electron microscopy‐energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (SEM‐EDS) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques to understand their phase formation, optical properties, morphology, and chemical composition. The absorption edge of ion‐exchanged samples was red‐shifted remarkably, therefore they would respond under visible light. The photocatalytic activity of all samples was assessed by studying the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under visible light irradiation. All samples show activity towards MB degradation and Cu−K2Ta2O6 exhibited superior photocatalytic performance (86 %) compared to others. Different scavenger tests were carried out to identify the reactive species, accountable for the decontamination of aqueous dye solution. Moreover, photoluminescence (PL) measurements were carried out to correlate the separation efficacy of photoinduced charge carriers and photocatalytic performance of all samples. This work may provide valuable information for exploring the as‐prepared photocatalysts towards more energy and environmental applications.
Silver-containing materials have been the source of attraction due to their excellent optical and photocatalytic properties. Silver vanadium phosphate, Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 , (hereafter abbreviated as AVP) in nanorods form was synthesized by hydrothermal method at 220 °C for 24 h and characterized by PXRD, FT-IR, 31 P 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 VO 6 octahedra and PO 4 tetrahedra. The Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 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 radicals are actively participating in the degradation of RhB followed by holes while the role of O 2 *À radicals is negligible. Antibacterial activity of this material was studied over gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.
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