Solar active photocatalyst for effective degradation of RR 120 with dye sensitized mechanism.

Solar active WO3 loaded Ag-ZnO (WO3-Ag-ZnO) was successfully synthesized by precipitation-decomposition method. XPS reveals that the presence of metallic silver in the catalyst. The photocatalytic activity of WO3-Ag-ZnO was investigated for the degradation of Reactive Red 120 (RR 120) in aqueous solution using solar light. WO3-Ag-ZnO is found to be more efficient than Ag-ZnO, WO3-ZnO, Ag-WO3, commercial ZnO, prepared ZnO, Degussa TiO2-P25, pure WO3 and TiO2 (Merck) at pH 7 for the mineralization of RR 120. The effects of operational parameters such as the amount of photocatalyst, dye concentration, initial pH on photo mineralization of RR 120 have been analyzed. The mineralization of RR 120 has been confirmed by COD measurements. A dual mechanism has been proposed for efficient degradation of RR 120 dye with WO3-Ag-ZnO under solar light at neutral pH. This catalyst is found to be reusable.