Ag–Co oxides nanoparticles supported on carbon nanotubes as an effective catalyst for the photodegradation of Congo red dye in aqueous medium

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes supported Ag–Co oxides (A-MWNTs/Ag–Co) and unsupported Ag–Co bimetallic oxides (Ag–Co) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by chemical reduction method. The A-MWCNTs/Ag–Co and Ag–Co NPs are characterized by various instrumental techniques like scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-rays (EDX) and X-rays diffraction (XRD). While the photodegradation study of Congo red was carried out by UV/Vis spectrophotometer. The A-MWCNTs/Ag–Co and Ag–Co NPs were used as photocatalyst for the photodegradation of Congo red dye as a function of irradiation time. The fresh A-MWCNTs/Ag–Co degraded about 90.37% dye while the recovered photocatalyst degraded 64.01% within 75 min. Similarly the original Ag–Co NPs degraded about 88.09% within 75 min while the recovered Ag–Co NPs degraded about 59.65% within the same irradiation time. The effect of photocatalyst dosage, initial dye concentration and pH of the medium was also evaluated.