Designing effective and stable S‐scheme RGO/AgVO3/AgBr hybrid with enhanced photocatalytic performance

Abstract

AbstractThe low separation of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs and cycle stability has been the main bottleneck which restricts the development of photocatalytic technology for water purification. Here, RGO/AgVO3 composites were fabricated by photo‐ultrasonic assisted reduction method, and AgBr nanoparticles were assembled on the surface of RGO/AgVO3 via an in situ ion exchange method. A series of characterization and experimental results indicated that the introduction of RGO influenced the growth of crystal phase for AgVO3 nanorods, resulting that AgVO3 nanorods became thicker and shorter with the increase in RGO content. Moreover, RGO could also work as a bridge to promote the migration of electrons, leading different improvement for photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, in situ growth of AgBr on the surface of AgVO3 nanorods could prevent its agglomeration and exfoliation, thus improving the photocatalytic activity and cycle stability of composites. RGO1%/AgVO3/AgBr30% exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and stability for methylene blue (MB) degradation due to its unique structure, and its removal ratio reached at 96.2% within 50 min. Meanwhile, the separation of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs of AgVO3 was markedly improved due to the introduction of RGO and AgBr. Based on the trapping experiments and theoretical calculation of band gap, a possible S‐scheme photocatalytic mechanism for improved photocatalytic activity was proposed.