Ultrasonic assisted synthesis with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity of NiO/Ag3VO4 nanocomposite and its antibacterial activity

• Published in: Ultrasonics sonochemistry 2018-06, Vol.44, p.73-85
• Main Authors: Ramasamy Raja, V., Rani Rosaline, D., Suganthi, A., Rajarajan, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 4-Nitro phenol (4-NP) and rose bengal (RB); Antibacterial activity; NiO/Ag3VO4 composite; Photocatalyst; Visible light
• ISSN: 1350-4177; 1873-2828
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2018.02.010

[Display omitted] •The NiO/Ag3VO4 nanocomposite exhibited considerable photcatalytic efficiency under visible light irradiation.•NiO/Ag3VO4 nanocomposite were characterized by UV-DRS, XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM and BET analysis.•The degradation of 4-Nitro phenol and Rose Bengal using NiO/Ag3VO4 nanocomposite. The NiO/Ag3VO4 nanocomposite photocatalysts were developed by ultrasonic assisted preparation method to study the photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. The samples were characterized by UV-DRS, XRD, FT-IR, XPS, SEM, EDX, TEM, EIS and BET analysis. The photocatalytic activity of NiO/Ag3VO4 nanocomposite for the photodegradation of 4-Nitro Phenol (4-NP) and Rose Bengal (RB) under visible light irradiation was studied and it is observed that the activity has been much higher than that of the pure Ag3VO4. DRS spectrum shows the absorption edge of NiO-Ag3VO4 in visible region of spectrum. The formation of cubic structured NiO and orthorhombic structured Ag3VO4 was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction analysis. The results of XPS analysis confirmed the coexistence of NiO and Ag3VO4 in the NiO/Ag3VO4 composite. The specific surface area and pore structure of the prepared samples were measured by BET. Enhanced charge separation efficiency was confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The kinetics of the NiO/Ag3VO4 nanocomposite was proposed to investigate the intervened effects of NiO to Ag3VO4 on the promotion of photocatalytic property. NiO/Ag3VO4 was found to be stable and reusable without appreciable loss of catalytic activity up to four consecutive cycles. A possible electron-hole transfer mechanism at the NiO/Ag3VO4 interface is proposed. It also showed effective and efficient bactericidal activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus, Proteus and Escherichia coli bacteria. Our results provide some new insights on the performance of visible light photocatalysts on environmental remediation.