Hierarchical Composite of Ag/AgBr Nanoparticles Supported on Bi₂MoO₆ Hollow Spheres for Enhanced Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract

Abstract The fabrication of multicomponent composite systems may provide benefits in terms of charge separation and the retardation of charge pair recombination. For this purpose, a hierarchical Ag/AgBr/Bi 2 MoO 6 composite was fabricated by using prepared hierarchical floriated Bi 2 MoO 6 hollow spheres as a supporting material. The interleaved nanoflakes assembled in the hierarchical floriated Bi 2 MoO 6 hollow spheres contributed to the stable deposition of Ag/AgBr nanoparticles and the formation of effective nanojunctions, which led to the low recombination rates of the photoinduced electron–hole pairs. The presence of double visible‐light‐active components in the Ag/AgBr/Bi 2 MoO 6 nanojunction system further broadened the visible‐light photoresponse range. As a result, the hierarchical Ag/AgBr/Bi 2 MoO 6 composite exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity than both photocatalysts containing single visible‐light‐active components and crushed Ag/AgBr/Bi 2 MoO 6 nanoparticles for the degradation of alizarin red S (ARS) and phenol. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses indicated that both AgBr and Ag 0 components coexist in the system, and the as‐prepared composite is relatively stable. The improved photoinduced charge‐transfer properties of the hierarchical Ag/AgBr/Bi 2 MoO 6 composite were investigated by using the transient photovoltage (TPV) technique.