Sol-gel synthesis and characterization of TiO2-CdO-Ag nanocomposite with superior photocatalytic efficiency

In the present research, TiO2-CdO-Ag nanoparticles were prepared via sol-gel method and employed as a superior nanophotocatalyst for the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB), as a model of organic dye in water. The prepared samples were characterized by different techniques such as thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis). TEM results showed that the synthesized TiO2-CdO-Ag nanoparticles had irregular morphologies with an average particle size of about 20 nm. The photocatalytic results revealed that TiO2-CdO-Ag nanoparticles reduce band gap energy and extend light absorption spectrum toward the visible region. The addition of both silver and CdO resulted in a better photocatalytic activity compared with the single addition of CdO or Ag. The research can lead to a significant improvement in the photodegradation of MB.