Abstract

In this research for the first time, SrCrO4 nanoparticles were prepared using sol–gel procedure in which amino acid was used as stabilization agent. Different amino acids were used as capping, stabilizer, or reduction agent. In this regard, the effect of Glycine, Alanine, Valin, and Leucine were evaluated on the morphology and crystalline degree of the SrCrO4 nanoparticles. The amino acid has both roles of reduction and capping agent. The molar ratio for Sr3+: Cr3+: amino acid was 1: 1: 4, respectively. In the next step, photodeposition process was used for preparation of SrCrO4/Ag nanostructures. The prepared products were evaluated by using TGA, XRD, EDS, SEM, TEM, DRS, and BET. XRD result indicated that crystalline degree and purity of the nanostructures prepared in the presence of leucine were more when compared with the other samples. On the other hand, based on the Scherrer equation, the average particle size for the optimum specimen was nearly 9 nm. The SrCrO4/Ag nanocomposite which was obtained using leucine showed a high activity in organic dye degradation. We think that this high catalytic activity can be attributed to the synergistic effect between Ag and SrCrO4 nanoparticles. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.