Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants by Ag-TiO2 loaded cassava stem activated carbon under sunlight irradiation.

Ag-doped TiO2 and Ag-doped TiO2 loaded cassava stem activated carbon (Ag: TiO2/CSAC) were prepared by sol-gel method and are labelled as AT and AT/CSAC respectively. XRD results confirmed that the anatase-TiO2 and crystalline size are decreased (12.37 nm) through the silver doping and cassava stem activated carbon loading. UV-Vis showed that the AT/CSAC makes a red shift from the absorption edge compared to pure and AT samples and then the band gap is reduced (2.81 eV). The increased surface area (238.51 m2/g) of the AT/CSAC sample through the Ag and CSAC, respectively. The consequences point out that the highest photodegradation efficiency (98.08%) of the TiO2 upon silver doping and cassava stem activated carbon loading samples were brilliant green (BG) under sunlight irradiation.