Novel preparation method of nanosilver doped sol gel TiO₂ photocatalysts for dye pollutant degradation

In the present study, a novel method for the silver nanoparticle incorporation into TiO₂ sol is reported which provides efficient dispersion of inserted metal in the calcined gel. Glucose mediated metal nanoparticle synthesis eliminates the additional steps for the introduction of dopant over the support. Ag nanoparticle acts as competent trapping centers preventing the recombination of electron–hole pairs. Thus, in spite of the low UV intensity present in the sunlight, considerable enhancement in the catalytic efficiency was observed for the degradation of dye pollutants over nanosilver loaded TiO₂. Transmission electron microscopic images display the well isolated nanoparticles of silver having uniform dimensions of less than 5 nm over the best system, 2 wt% nanosilver loaded TiO₂, which is accountable for its effectiveness as a photocatalyst. Anatase is found to be the photocatalytic active phase, as evident from the X-ray diffraction studies.