Critical influence of g-C3N4 self-assembly coating on the photocatalytic activity and stability of Ag/AgCl microspheres under visible light

Abstract

The g-C3N4 coated Ag/AgCl visible-light-driven photocatalysts were synthesized by a simple generic self-assembly approach at room temperature. The catalysts showed a uniform morphology with a controllable coating state on the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. The wide structure and surface characterization showed that the presence of g-C3N4 notably affected the surface properties of Ag/AgCl photocatalysts. The photocatalytic activity was significantly dependent upon the coating ratio of g-C3N4 under visible light, while 1wt% was the best coating ratio. Recycling experiments confirmed that the g-C3N4–Ag/AgCl catalysts had superior cycle performance and stability. These results suggested that the self-assembly g-C3N4 coating treatment had critical influence on the visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity and stability of Ag/AgCl plasmonic photocatalyst. The enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability could be ascribed to the formation of steady g-C3N4–Ag/AgCl heterojunction, which results in the efficient space separation of photo-induced charge carriers.