Soft chemical synthesis of Ag3SbS3 with efficient and recyclable visible light photocatalytic properties

Application of Ag3SbS3, obtained by soft chemical approach involving rapid reaction of air stable metal–thiourea complexes in ethylene glycol medium, as visible light photocatalyst for the degradation of dye solutions was investigated. Ag3SbS3 was confirmed by high resolution powder X-ray diffraction pattern and its no defined morphology was present in SEM images. From UV–vis spectroscopy measurements, optical band gap of 1.77 eV was deduced for Ag3SbS3. Rapid degradation kinetics and recyclability was exhibited by Ag3SbS3 towards Methylene Blue, Methyl Orange, Malachite Green, and Rhodamine 6G dye solutions under visible radiation. All these processes followed pseudo first order kinetics. High surface area (6.39 m2/g), with mesopores (3.81 nm), arising from solvent mediated synthesis of Ag3SbS3 has been correlated to its catalytic activity.