Ionic liquid mediated synthesis of AgBr–Ag₃PO₄ nanostructures as highly efficient visible-light photocatalysts

Abstract

AgBr–Ag3PO4 nanostructures, prepared by an ionic liquid-assisted precipitation method, were used as the effective visible-light driven photocatalytic system for the treatment of wastewaters. The prepared samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction powder (XRD), Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms (BET) methods. The photoactivity of the products was studied by degradation of rhodamine B dye and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) Gram-positive bacteria. The photoreaction kinetics and mechanism over the nanostructures was investigated and according to the results, the kinetic of dye degradation was realised to be pseudo-first order. Moreover, we observed that the bacterial regrowth was at the lowest level after the photocatalytic treatment. The photogenerated electron–holes reacted with the species in the solution and produced the reactive radicals such as OH•, HO2• and O2•‾ which can attack the organic pollutants and pathogenic micro-organisms. The reuse ability tests indicated that the prepared nanostructures had considerable capacity for the photodegradation of the dye after five times of repeated using.