Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Ag–Co3O4 Nanoparticles for Visible-Light Photocatalysis and DFT-Based Nonlinear Optical Investigation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64229/w8zaav08Keywords:
Ag–Co₃O₄ nanoparticles, Green synthesis, Gum Arabic, Photocatalytic degradation, Nonlinear optical, Density functional theoryAbstract
Ag–Co3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized via an eco-friendly green route using Gum Arabic as a natural biopolymer, serving simultaneously as a reducing and stabilizing agent to enable controlled nanoparticle growth. The as-prepared nanomaterials were investigated for the visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO). Structural and morphological characterization using X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the formation of a highly crystalline cubic phase with an average crystallite size of approximately 20 nm, which was in good agreement with the nearly uniform particle size observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy revealed a reduced optical band gap of 2.09 eV compared to pristine Co3O4, indicating enhanced visible-light absorption. Owing to these favorable structural and optical features, the Ag–Co3O4 nanoparticles exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance, achieving up to 96% degradation of MO within 3 h under visible-light irradiation at room temperature. To complement the experimental findings, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out at the B3LYP level to examine the electronic structure and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. The computed frontier molecular orbital (FMO) and charge-transfer characteristics revealed improved electronic delocalization, while significantly enhanced first hyperpolarizability values (β = 11,441.88 and 54,398.78 a.u.) confirmed strong NLO responsiveness. The combined experimental and theoretical results highlight the potential of green-synthesized Ag–Co3O4 nanomaterials for advanced photocatalytic and optoelectronic applications.
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