Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of the photocatalytic performance of Ag-CdMoO₄ solar light driven plasmonic photocatalyst

Ag-CdMoO₄ plasmonic photocatalyst was synthesized in ethanol/water mixture by photo assisted co-precipitation method at room temperature. As synthesized powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analyzer. Photocatalytic activity was evaluated by performing the degradation experiment over methylene blue (MB) and indigo carmine (IC) as model dyes under simulated solar light irradiation. The results revealed that the Ag-CdMoO₄ showed the higher photocatalytic performance as compared to CdMoO₄ nanoparticles. Dispersion of Ag nanoparticles over the surface of CdMoO₄ nanoparticles causes the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and enhances the broad absorption in the entire visible region of the solar spectrum. Hence, dispersion of Ag nanoparticles over CdMoO₄ nanoparticles could be the better alternative to enhance the absorption of visible light by scheelite crystal family for effective photocatalysis.