Sol-Gel Preparation of Ag2CoTiO4 Nanoparticles as Efficient Photocatalyst for Visible Light Degradation of Acid Red 88

Ag2CoTiO4 nanoparticles were synthesized by facile and straightforward sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the prepared nanoparticles have hexagonal phase and are truly consistent with delafossite structure. The prepared Ag2CoTiO4 nanoparticles possess noticeable absorption in visible light region with energy band-gap of 2.43 eV. The morphological features were studied using SEM and TEM analysis, which show the nano-sized spherical morphology for the prepared nanoparticles. FT-IR spectrum clearly affirms formation of metal-oxygen bonds for the prepared nanoparticles. The photocatalytic potential of the nanoparticles was studied for visible light degradation of acid red 88 (AR 88). After 120 min illumination, the highest photocatalytic activity was attained (89.02%) using 30 mg of the loaded nanoparticles. The effect of different experimental conditions was investigated on the photocatalytic efficiency, including various amount of photocatalyst and concentration of H2O2. Recyclability experiment shows that the prepared nanoparticles have a great stability up to 6 consecutive reaction cycles.