Ag/TiO2 binary nanocomposite embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA-Ag/TiO2 for enhanced photodegradation effectiveness of pollutants

A unique combination of poly(methyl methacrylate) and Ag/TiO2 binary nanoparticles as an eco-friendly photocatalysis system have gained high attention owing to its extensive applications such as wastewater treatment. This report signifies the preparation of a new type of PMMA-Ag/TiO2 binary nanocomposite via microemulsion method at a low dosage of nanoparticles for the first time. Various molar ratio of Ag:TiO2 nanoparticles were embedded into the nanocomposite films by using microemulsion method. The resulted nanocomposites were characterized by DRS, TEM, and XPS techniques. The characterization results indicated well monodispersity of Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles in the nanocomposite films with an average particle size of about 15 nm. The formation of Ag decorated on the large surface of TiO2 nanoparticles that can be acted as both a plasmonic sensitizer and an electron trap verified with XPS analysis. The visible light photocatalytic performance of the prepared film nanocomposites for degradation of acid blue 92 (AB92) and methyl orange (MO) dyes, as representative pollutant models, were studied. The highest photodegradation efficiency was found on the film nanocomposite with 1:0.5 molar ratio of Ag:TiO2 at the natural pH. It is also verified that the nanocomposite was still stable after six cycles in the photodegradation process.