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Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity of Ag2S/Ag Nanocomposite Precipitated from Silver Thiosulfate Complex through Ultraviolet Photolysis

  • METALLURGY OF NONFERROUS METALS
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Abstract

The thiosulfate system for silver extraction has numerous characteristics such as high efficiency, low consumption, and environmental protection, and it has good application prospects. However, the high cost of metal recovery in thiosulfate systems limits its industrial application. A previous study indicated that Ag2S/Ag nanocomposite clouds were precipitated from silver thiosulfate complex (AgTS) through ultraviolet photolysis, whereas the semiconductor-metal nanopowders synthesized through the hydrothermal synthesis process are usually important composites that can be used in photocatalysis, broad-spectrum antibacterial, and other environmental fields. Therefore, this study aims to develop high-value utilization of AgTS hydrometallurgical systems based on the photocatalytic properties of nanocomposites, and proposes research on the visible-light photocatalytic activity of Ag2S/Ag photocatalytic systems precipitated from AgTS through ultraviolet photolysis. First, the morphology and optical properties of the Ag2S/Ag nanocomposite were investigated. Next, the visible light photocatalytic activity of the Ag2S/Ag nanocomposite was evaluated, and finally, the new high-value utilization research method of “ultraviolet absorption → ultraviolet photolysis → photocatalysis” was proposed. In this study, we demonstrate a novel method of high-value utilization of silver thiosulfate lixivium with a high photocatalytic efficiency of the Ag2S/Ag nanocomposite of up to 47.98% after three cycles.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 52104349), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant no. 2021M690915). This work was also funded by The Key Scientific Research Project of Colleges and Universities in Henan Province (grant no. 21A450001), and The Key Technologies R & D Program of Henan Province (grant no. 222102320435).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China

    Chao Han, Jialong Cao, Chu Cheng, Panpan Xu & Jiwen Li

  2. Provincial and Ministerial Co-construction of Collaborative Innovation Center for Non-Ferrous Metal New Materials and Advanced Processing Technology, Luoyang, China

    Chao Han

  3. Research Center for High Purity Materials, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China

    Chao Han, Panpan Xu & Guangxin Wang

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  1. Chao Han
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  2. Jialong Cao
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  3. Chu Cheng
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Correspondence to Chao Han.

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Han, C., Cao, J., Cheng, C. et al. Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity of Ag2S/Ag Nanocomposite Precipitated from Silver Thiosulfate Complex through Ultraviolet Photolysis. Russ. J. Non-ferrous Metals 63, 369–378 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1067821222040046

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