Dyes decolorization using silver nanoparticles supported on nanometric diamond as highly efficient photocatalyst under natural Sunlight irradiation

Abstract

[EN] Herein we report that silver nanoparticles supported on commercial diamond nanoparticles functionalized with hydroxyl groups (D3) is a cost-effective heterogeneous catalyst for the decolorization of different synthetic dyes (Methylene Blue, Orange II, Acid Red 1 or Rhodamine B) using H2O2 as oxidant under natural Sunlight irradiation. Importantly, the photocatalytic activity of Ag/D3 is higher than that of analogous catalysts based on Ag NPs supported on graphite or activated carbon and similar to that of costly Au/D3 catalyst or the benchmark Ag/TiO2 material. Ag/D3 stability was established by performing consecutive reuses, without observing either decrease of the catalytic activity or metal leaching, while particle size increase occurs in a low extent. Productivity tests allow determining a minimum TON for dyes and H2O2 of about 500 and 6000, respectively. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.