Apatite-coated Ag/AgBr/Bi2WO6 nanocomposite: synthesis, characterization, and application as an efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst

摘要

A deposition method was applied to synthesize a multicomponent photocatalyst based on apatite (HaP)-coated Ag/AgBr/Bi2WO6 (denoted as HaP/Ag/AgBr/Bi2WO6). Various techniques were applied to identify the synthesized photocatalyst. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared photocatalysts was examined using degradation of rhodamineB, methyl orange, and phenol as pollutants under visible-light irradiation. The results of the photocatalytic experiments showed that the HaP/Ag/AgBr/Bi2WO6 multicomponent composite exhibited excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity. Meanwhile, studies on the photocatalytic activity determined that the simultaneous effects of the adsorption properties of HaP, the surface plasmonic resonance of the Ag nanoparticles, the photocatalytic activity of AgBr under visible light, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributed to the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the HaP/Ag/AgBr/Bi2WO6 composite. Moreover, based on studies conducted using radical scavengers, the main reactive species in the photocatalytic reaction for degradation of all the chemical pollutants were revealed and a photocatalytic mechanism for the degradation of organics over HaP/Ag/AgBr/Bi2WO6 is proposed. Furthermore, HaP/Ag/AgBr/Bi2WO6 exhibited good stability in cyclic photocatalytic trials.