Ag@AgCl Nanomaterial Synthesis Using Sugar Cane Juice and Its Application in Degradation of Azo Dyes

This work reports on an additive-free method for the preparation of hybrid Ag@AgCl plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) with a size less than 50 nm (average size 37 nm) using sugar cane juice as the only reagent for the first time. This is an ecofriendly, rapid (20 min), and economical protocol that avoids the use of additional external reducing agents, external capping agents, templates, solvents, and external halide ion sources. The effects of various parameters like the concentration of sugar juice, reaction temperature, and reaction time on the formation of Ag@AgCl with respect to morphology control and size distribution were also studied. The prepared NPs were well characterized using techniques such as FEG-SEM, XRD, TEM, XPS, UV–visible spectrometry, and EDS. Prepared Ag@AgCl nanomaterials exhibited good photocatalytic ability toward degradation of methyl orange and methylene blue azo dyes in aqueous solution in the visible region of light. The catalyst was tested up to four recycles and showed no significant loss of catalytic activity.