Facile synthesis and characterization of Ag(NP)/TiO2 nanocomposite: Photocatalytic efficiency of catalyst for oxidative removal of Alizarin Yellow

Abstract Nanocomposite thin film material Ag(NP)/TiO2(T) was synthesized and fabricated by facile template method and employed for the removal of Alizarin Yellow using UV-A radiations. The materials were suitably characterized by advanced analytical methods. The mechanism and kinetics of dye degradation was extensively studied for various parametric studies. The increase in pH from 6.0 to 8.0 had caused to decrease the removal efficiency of Alizarin Yellow from 53.1 to 37.5 % using the Ag(NP)/TiO2(T) thin film catalyst. The degradation of Alizarin Yellow using the thin film catalyst has followed the pseudo-first order degradation kinetics and the increase in concentration of Alizarin (0.5–15.0 mg/L) has caused to significant decrease in rate constants of degradation. The NPOC results showed significant amount of dye was mineralized since at pH 6.0 the percentage removal of Alizarin Yellow was found to be 48.36 % using the nanocomposite Ag(NP)/TiO2(T) photocatalyst. Photostability of catalyst was reaffirmed by successive photocatalytic operations and at the end of six successive operations has caused to a minimal decrease in percentage removal of Alizarin Yellow i.e., 0.97 % using the thin film catalyst. The co-existence of cations/anions demonstrated the study of real matrix treatment of waste water contaminated with Alizarin Yellow. The scavenger study implied to propose a plausible mechanism of oxidation.