Ag@AgBr/Ag3PO4 Nanocomposites as Photocatalyst for Degradation of Rhodamine B

Abstract

Ternary nano-Ag@AgBr/Ag3PO4 was synthesized via an approach involving ion interchange– precipitation and in situ photo-assisted reduction. It was then characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Under visible light irradiation, Ag@AgBr/Ag3PO4 had high photocatalytic activity and stability with respect to the decomposition of rhodamine B (RhB). 0.1Ag@AgBr/Ag3PO4 showed the best photocatalytic performance and degraded 96% of RhB after 30 min of irradiation. It is known from the effects that different capture factors have on the photocatalytic reaction of RhB by 0.1Ag@AgBr/Ag3PO4, holes (h+ ) and superoxide anions (O ·- 2 ) are primarily responsible for the degradation of RhB. To explain the photocatalytic degradation process of RhB, a Ztype photocatalytic degradation mechanism was proposed.