High-surface area (971 -1232 m~2g) AgX-SiO_2 (X = Cl, Br, I) photocatalysts were synthesized by using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as structure-directing template. Photocatalyst samples were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm, X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and UV-Vis measurements. To demonstrate the environmental remediation processes, photodegradation reactions of acetaldehyde (gas-phase) and rhodamine blue (liquid-phase) were tested as model reactions under UV (320 -400 nm) and visible light (420 nm) irradiation. It is concluded that silver iodide-silica system is the most active photocatalyst due to its stability, high-surface area, and low band gap as compared with silver bromide and chloride-silica systems for solar remediation of polluted air and water.
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