Fabrication of Ag loaded Bi₃NbO₇ nanoparticles and its photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

Highlights: • The Ag loaded Bi₃NbO₇ photocatalyst (Ag/Bi₃NbO₇) was prepared by co-precipitation and photo-reduction methods. • The degradation rate constant over Ag/Bi₃NbO₇ with Ag loading of 2 wt% was 7.81 times that of bulk Bi₃NbO₇ catalyst. • The photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. - Abstract: A nanostructured Ag loaded Bi₃NbO₇ photocatalyst was synthesized by the co-precipitation combined with photodeposition method, and characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, BET nitrogen adsorption–desorption, and UV–vis DRS. Photocatalytic activities of the Ag/Bi₃NbO₇ samples were evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation. It was shown that the best photocatalytic activity was obtained on sample with Ag loading level of 2 wt%. It was suggested that the increase in photocatalytic activity of Ag/Bi₃NbO₇ photocatalyst was explained on the basis of the electron trapping ability, the electron exciting ability and the surface plasmon resonance effect of metallic Ag particles