Synthesis of silver nanoparticles from oleander using a green method, and their application in enhancing photocatalytic degradation of MB with TiO2 &CuO Nanocomposite

The tertiary composite of TiO 2 /CuO @ Ag (TCA) were synthesized by the solid state method using different ratios of TiO 2 /CuO NCs and Ag NPs. The structural, morphological, and optical properties of nanocomposites were analysed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV–Vis/DRS) and Photoluminescence (PL) spectrophotometry. The results showed enhanced activity of TCA hybrid nanocrystals in oxidizing MB in water under visible light irradiation compared to pure TiO 2 . The photocatalytic performance TCA samples increased with suitable Ag content. The results show that the photo degradation efficiency of the TiO 2 compound improved from 13% to 85% in the presence of TiO 2 -CuO and to 98.87% in the presence of Ag containing TiO 2 -CuO, which is 7.6 times higher than that of TiO 2 . Optical characterization results show enhanced nanocomposite absorption in the visible region with long lifetimes between e/h+ at optimal TiO 2 -CuO/Ag (TCA 2 ) ratio. Reusable experiments indicated that the prepared TCA NC photo catalysts were stable during MB photodegradation and had practical applications for environmental remediation.