Synthesis of Ag/AgCl/TiO₂ nanocomposite and study of photocatalytic activity in VOCs removal from gas phase

ABSTRACT

The Ag/AgCl/TiO₂ nanocomposite was synthesised via low-temperature deposition-precipitation along with photoreduction method. Ag/AgCl is a suitable photocatalyst because of the surface plasmon resonance band. Various techniques, including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopyand ultraviolet/visible diffuse reflectance spectra, have been employed to determine the structure, morphology and optical properties of the prepared Ag/AgCl/TiO₂ nanocomposite. The photocatalytic activity of Ag/AgCl/TiO₂ nanocomposite was tested for the gas-phase degradation of volatile organic pollutants (VOCs) such as ethyl acetate, hexane and toluene. It was found that Ag/AgCl/TiO₂ nanocomposite is capable of removing VOCs under irradiation of visible and UV light. The effect of operational parameters such as shape and composition of photocatalyst, moisture, VOC concentration and type of light source is also investigated. The photocatalytic activity of Ag/AgCl/TiO₂ nanocomposite for gas-phase degradation of VOCs and effect of performance parameters has not been reported so far.

KEYWORDS:

• Ag/AgCl/TiO₂
• photocatalyst
• VOCs

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from University of Zanjan and Iranian Nanotechnology Initiative.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.