Facile preparation and characterization of a novel visible-light-responsive Rb₂HgI₄ nanostructure photocatalyst

Visible photocatalytic procedures exhibit encouraging potential in water purification by increasing the photocatalytic performance. Therefore, the improvement of low-cost and efficient photocatalysts for environmental remediation is an increasing demand, and photocatalysts based on semiconductors have gained considerable attention due to their superior stability and activity. In the current study, novel Rb₂HgI₄ nanostructures were prepared via a simple, low-cost, and low-temperature solid-state method. The effects of different parameters such as type of surfactants, reaction temperature, and reaction time were studied on the structure, crystallinity, particle size, and shape of nanostructures. This new compound has a suitable band gap (2.6 eV) in the visible region. The photocatalytic performance of Rb₂HgI₄ was examined for the removal of coloring agents under visible light irradiation and it was found that this compound could degrade and eliminate acid black 1 by about 72.1%.