Abstract
A series of reduced graphene (rGO) and AgBr composite heterojunction photocatalysts were fabricated through a facile solvothermal method. The rGO/AgBr heterostructures were characterized by XPS, XRD, UV–Vis DRS, SEM, TEM, photoluminescence (PL), and the transient photocurrent responses. The XRD, SEM, XPS, and TEM analyses indicated that the graphene and silver bromide were successfully compounded without other impurities. The UV–Vis DRS exhibited that the rGO/AgBr composites have better optical properties than pure silver bromide. The PL and the transient photocurrent responses demonstrated that the addition of graphene significantly promotes the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. Subsequently, the photocatalytic activities of rGO/AgBr composites were studied by degrading Rhodamine B (RhB). It turned out that the degradation rate of RhB by the rGO/AgBr heterojunction photocatalysts was significantly higher than that by pure AgBr. Furthermore, to study the photocatalytic degradation mechanism of RhB by rGO/AgBr heterostructures, the trapping experiments were used to identify main active components. This work confirmed that the photocatalytic degradation performance of the catalyst was greatly improved after doping graphene, which provided certain data support for degradation of organic contaminants in water.
Highlights
Rapid industrial developments have improved human life quantity, whereas the discharge of pollution has become a compelling threat to the environment [1]
In order to further prove the composition of the materials, Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) was used to verify the existence of characteristic chemical bonds, and prove the existence of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in the composite material
The photocatalytic degradation experiment shown that the degradation rate of Rhodamine B by the rGO/AgBr photocatalysts were significantly higher than that by pure AgBr (54.8%) after 40 minutes irradiation, identifying that compositing rGO on the surface of AgBr particles contribute to enhancing the photocatalytic activity
Summary
Rapid industrial developments have improved human life quantity, whereas the discharge of pollution has become a compelling threat to the environment [1]. The organic dyes, which widely used in textile, printing, papermaking and other industries around the world, are colorants with complex structures, high molecular weight, water solubility, degradation resistance and potential carcinogenicity [2,3,4]. They will damage the aquatic ecosystem and threaten human health if the organic dyes in the wastewater are directly discharged into the rivers, lakes and groundwater. Silver halide (AgX, X = Cl, Br, I),which is a photocatalytic material with a narrow band gap, exhibits great photocatalytic performances for organic pollutant removal in the presence of visible light [11, 15,16,17]. The photocatalytic mechanism of rGO/AgBr complex was investigated
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