Synergic effect of Fe-Sn-Ag tri-metallic nanoparticles synthesized by a green chemistry method on their photocatalytic activity.

This research work reports a novel co-precipitation methodology for the green synthesis of tri-metallic nanoparticles (TMNPs) of type: magnetite (FeONPs), tin (Sn), and silver (Ag), using an aqueous extract of Crocus sativus (ExCs) as a stabilizing agent (TMNPs FeONPs@Sn-Ag/ExCs), for the first time. The resulting TMNPs FeONPs@Sn-Ag/ExCs were characterized by Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), physical adsorption of nitrogen gas at low temperature by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Field-Emission Scanning Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (FE-SEM-EDS) and Transmission Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (TEM-EDS). The TEM-EDS analysis presented TMNPs FeONPs@Sn-Ag/ExCs with a spherical morphology and a mode size of 13 nm. The crystallographic study of the TMNPs FeONPs@Sn-Ag/ExCs showed a proportionality between the full width at half maximum (FWHM) XRD peaks and the crystallite size, as well as the d spacing (111) associated with the Ag in the TMNPs structure. The TMNPs FeONPs@Sn-Ag/ExCs were successfully used in the photodegradation of two over the counter commercial dyes, sky blue No. 39 and emerald green No. 27, resulting in a 100% efficiency for both dyes (90 min of reaction), using sunlight or LED radiation, and a high mineralization rate (>99% TOC removal).