- Thesis topic: Synthesis of Ag@Bi2S3 and Bi2S3@g-C3N4 for photocatalytic degradation of NOx under solar light

- Doi: 10.6840/cycu202100112

- Abstract: 

        NOx is a universal term for nitrogen oxide relevant to air pollution namely nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (N2). In recent years due to urbanization and civilization, industrial activities are rapidly growing due to which air quality is degraded and it has adverse effect on human being as well as environment. Mostly NOx is generated from the anthropogenic activities and it is a point source of pollution which comes from industrial activities, burning of fossil fuels and transportation. Currently photo catalysis is an emerging tool used for the reduction of air pollutants which helps to improve the air quality. Bi2S3 and g-C3N4 are well-known semiconductors that has been used as a catalyst. In this work Ag is doped into Bi2S3 and on the other hand Bi2S3 is doped into g-C3N4 both are used as catalyst for the degradation of NOx. A series of Ag@Bi2S3 and Bi2S3@ g-C3N4 with different ratios were evaluated for the photocatalytic performance. In this experimental work the flow rate of NOx is 3 L/min, and the photocatalytic activity is 30 minutes under solar light. The resulting products will be characterized such as XRD, SEM, EDS, ESR and TEM. Ag doped in Bi2S3 and Bi2S3 doped in g-C3N4 can harvest the solar light due to narrow band gap and Ag dopant and Bi2S3 dopant improved electron hole pair and it generate hydroxyl and superoxide radicals for the degradation of NOx. Furthermore, Ag@Bi2S3 and Bi2S3@g-C3N4 increased the photo-oxidation efficiency of the transformation from NOx to NO3. In short, this study provides accomplished and effective approach to prepare Bi2S3@gC3N4 and Ag-Bi₂S₃ photocatalysts for NOx degradation under solar light.

Keywords: Photocatalysis; NOx; Ag-Bi2S3; XRD; EDS; ESR; SEM and solar light