Degradation of water-soluble methyl orange in visible light with the use of silver and copper co-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles

In this study, removal of methyl orange in aqueous media and visible light was investigated by using co-doped silver and copper TiO₂ nanoparticles. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used for characterization of prepared nanoparticles. TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared by sol–gel method. Also silver and copper were doped in nanoparticles by impregnation method. Red shift occurred in co-doped Ag,Cu/TiO₂ nanoparticles and exhibited highest photocatalytic activity compared to pure TiO₂ nanoparticles. Optimum mole percentage of copper and silver for co-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles were 0.03 and 1.3 respectively. Optimum co-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles showed 50% degradation in the visible light within 40 min. The change in the diffraction angle (2θ), lattice parameter and the reduction in X-ray diffraction intensity, are the factors that proved silver and copper co-doped in TiO₂ nanoparticles completely.