In situ ion exchange synthesis of stable AgBr/Ag3PO4 dumbbell-like heterojunction photocatalysts with enhanced visible light photocatalytic degradation

摘要

Novel dumb-bell-like AgBr/Ag3PO4 heterostructured photocatalyst was developed by a simple and efficient in situ ion exchange method in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)/water mixed solvent systems at room temperature, and characterised by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrometry. Subsequently, the photocatalytic experiment for this heterojunction was conducted under visible light irradiation using typical organic dyes including Rhodamine B, methyl blue and methyl orange dyes as targeted pollutant, which indicate AgBr/Ag3PO4 exhibited higher photocatalytic activity compared with pure AgBr or Ag3PO4, and the highest photocatalytic activity was reached by AgBr/Ag3PO4 hybrid photocatalyst with 20 w% of AgBr. Moreover, Superior stability was also observed by recycling experiments indicating that heterostructured AgBr/Ag3PO4 is highly desirable for the remediation of organic waste-contaminated wastewaters. In addition, the possible photocatalytic mechanisms of AgBr/Ag3PO4 heterojunction and degradation pathways on basis of the experimental results are also proposed in detail.