In situ self-assembled preparation of mesoporous Ag/TiO₂-MCM-41@LGCN with excellent applications of photocatalysis-adsorption

For environmental sanitization, the synthesis of highly active electro/photocatalysts has piqued attention. Even so, due to the limited ability of visible light absorption and electron-hole pair recombination, the efficacy of electro/photocatalysts is still poor. Keep in mind the advantages of layered graphitic carbon nitride and mesoporous silica electronic structural design (LGCN). Hydrothermal treatment was used to develop a new material, Ag/TiO₂-MCM-41@LGCN heterostructure. The mesoporous silica greatly disseminated on the surface of graphitic carbon nitride consequently therefore, increased surface area per unit volume. To increase the number of active sites, silver and titanium dioxide were riveted on MCM-41@LGCN exterior. The manufactured nanostructure catalyst was used to remove Cr (VI) and reduce methylene blue (MB) photocatalytically. By varying the contact duration, material amount, and solution pH, the removal efficiency of Cr (VI) was determined. Consequently, 100 % removal efficacy was noted using 0.15 g adsorbent (Ag/TiO₂-MCM-41@LGCN) and at pH 2, 200 mg/L adsorbate (Cr (VI), with a contact time of 220 min and a temperature of 25 °C, 2nd order kinetics and isotherm tracked Langmuir model for Cr (VI). The Flory–Huggins model data revealed that the adsorption process is a spontaneous response. For photocatalytic reduction of MB, the said nanostructure was irradiated with visible light. Using 5.0 g of Ag/TiO₂-MCM-41@LGCN, 95 % of the MB was reduced in 10 min, and the reaction followed 1st order kinetics. The proposed nanostructure is shown to be a potential choice for Cr (VI) adsorption and MB photodecomposition in this work.