Amir Hossein Cheshme Khavar ۱ - ۱. Dept. of Basic Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Moslem Jafarisani ۲* - ۲. Dept. of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.

Background: With increasing demands for environmental protection, photocatalysis has attracted great attention, and AgInS۲ based photocatalysis are an attractive system to study.Methods: In this work, AgInS۲ (AIS) nanoparticles were synthesized via the microwave heating process with the power of ۹۰۰ W for ۵ min, which showed excellent photocatalytic activities upon the degradation of ۴-nitro phenol (۴-NP) under visible light irradiation.Results: The optimum catalyst showed the removal efficiency up to ۹۷%, of ۴-NP with the ۱۵ mg L−۱ concentration from the water after ۸۰ min photocatalytic reaction time. The mechanism of photocatalysis was also analyzed. The product was characterized by PXRD, FE-SEM, TEM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. A scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope revealed the particle morphology, with the average size of ۷۰ nm. Powder X-ray diffraction confirmed that the resultant product is a pure orthorhombic phase of AIS nanoparticles. The band gap energy of ۱.۹۶ eV estimated by the diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), exhibited that this product can be prone for photocatalytic activity in the visible region.Conclusions: It is suggested that the AgInS۲ nanoparticles developed in our work can provide a new platform for the design of highly efficient photocatalysts under visible light irradiation.Background: With increasing demands for environmental protection, photocatalysis has attracted great attention, and AgInS۲ based photocatalysis are an attractive system to study. Methods: In this work, AgInS۲ (AIS) nanoparticles were synthesized via the microwave heating process with the power of ۹۰۰ W for ۵ min, which showed excellent photocatalytic activities upon the degradation of ۴-nitro phenol (۴-NP) under visible light irradiation. Results: The optimum catalyst showed the removal efficiency up to ۹۷%, of ۴-NP with the ۱۵ mg L−۱ concentration from the water after ۸۰ min photocatalytic reaction time. The mechanism of photocatalysis was also analyzed. The product was characterized by PXRD, FE-SEM, TEM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. A scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope revealed the particle morphology, with the average size of ۷۰ nm. Powder X-ray diffraction confirmed that the resultant product is a pure orthorhombic phase of AIS nanoparticles. The band gap energy of ۱.۹۶ eV estimated by the diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), exhibited that this product can be prone for photocatalytic activity in the visible region. Conclusions: It is suggested that the AgInS۲ nanoparticles developed in our work can provide a new platform for the design of highly efficient photocatalysts under visible light irradiation.

AIS nanoparticles, Microwave heating, ۴-Nitro phenol, Photocatalytic activities.