Soft chemical synthesis of Ag3SbS3 with efficient and recyclable visible light photocatalytic properties

Abstract Application of Ag 3 SbS 3 , obtained by soft chemical approach involving rapid reaction of air stable metal–thiourea complexes in ethylene glycol medium, as visible light photocatalyst for the degradation of dye solutions was investigated. Ag 3 SbS 3 was confirmed by high resolution powder X-ray diffraction pattern and its no defined morphology was present in SEM images. From UV–vis spectroscopy measurements, optical band gap of 1.77 eV was deduced for Ag 3 SbS 3 . Rapid degradation kinetics and recyclability was exhibited by Ag 3 SbS 3 towards Methylene Blue, Methyl Orange, Malachite Green, and Rhodamine 6G dye solutions under visible radiation. All these processes followed pseudo first order kinetics. High surface area (6.39 m 2 /g), with mesopores (3.81 nm), arising from solvent mediated synthesis of Ag 3 SbS 3 has been correlated to its catalytic activity.