A novel in-situ synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance of Ag/AgBr/Ag2O/sulfonated polystyrene sphere heterostructure photocatalyst

摘要

Ag/AgBr/Ag2O/SPS (sulfonated polystyrene sphere) heterostructure photocatalysts were synthesized by a simple in situ ion-exchange followed by light-induced formation method using waste SPS and silver ion from wastewater as raw material. The structures, morphologies, and light absorption properties of Ag/AgBr/Ag2O/SPS composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis absorption spectrum. Preliminary results showed that the catalyst has a better photocatalytic degradation effect on organic dyes like rhodamine B (RhB) in polluted water under visible light irradiation in contrast to Ag/AgBr/SPS and Ag/Ag2O/SPS. The enhanced photocatalytic activities were attributed to combined effects, including highly dispersed smaller Ag nanoparticles, stronger visible absorption and higher charge separation efficiency. The possible mechanism for the photocatalytic activity of Ag/AgBr/Ag2O/SPS was tentatively proposed. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.