Silver chromate and silver dichromate nanostructures: Sonochemical synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic properties

In this work, Ag2CrO4 and Ag2Cr2O7 nanostructures have been produced via a sonochemical method using silver salicylate as precursor. Besides silver salicylate, Na2CrO4 and (NH4)(2)Cr2O7 as starting reagents were applied. To investigate the effect of preparation parameters on the morphology and particle size of Ag2CrO4 and Ag2Cr2O7, sonication time, type of surfactant and its concentration were changed. The as-produced nanostructures were characterized by techniques like powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The scanning electron micrographs showed that particle-like and rod-like nanostructures of Ag2CrO4 and Ag2Cr2O7 were produced using different surfactants. To investigate the catalytic properties of Ag2CrO4 nanoparticles, photooxidation of methyl orange (MO) was performed. According to the obtained results, it was found that the methyl orange degradation was about 87.3% after 280 min irradiation of visible light. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.