Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Facile in situ synthesis of silver nanocomposites based on cellulosic paper for photocatalytic applications

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this work, various photocatalysts were synthesized with an impregnation-precipitation process to in situ decorate Ag-based nanoparticles (NPs, including Ag3PO4, AgCl, Ag2O, and Ag2CO3) on the cellulosic paper. The structure and properties of the Ag-based composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmitting electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra, and photocatalysis testing. The results showed that cellulosic paper is an efficient carrier which is feasible to grasp NPs due to the cellulosic nanofiber-network microstructure. Among the obtained samples, Ag2CO3 and AgCl NPs on cellulosic paper displayed high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange under ultraviolet and visible light. However, photo lability of Ag2CO3 limits its recyclable. AgCl showed a better reutilization with the assistance of a surface plasmon resonance effect by Ag NPs that were grown in situ on the AgCl NPs, which formed Ag@AgCl nanocomposite structure. The photocatalytic activity of the AgCl/cellulosic paper decreased only slightly after three runs of photodegradation of methyl orange. The possible mechanism for photocatalysis was proposed. This work may provide a new method for the design of silver-based NPs/cellulosic paper nanocomposite photoreactors with favorable photocatalytic activities for industrial applications.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Scheme 1
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Scheme 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

References

  • Chen X, Zhu HY, Zhao JC, Zheng ZF, Gao XP (2008) Visible-light-driven oxidation of organic contaminants in air with gold nanoparticle catalysts on oxide supports. Angew Chem Int Edit 47(29):5433–5436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen XY, Hou JJ, Yang H, Xu ZL (2016) Facile preparation of NPs based on Ag-AgCl immobilized in porous PVA sphere with high visible light photoactivity and good photostability under Cl- condition. J Environ Chem Eng 4(1):1068–1075

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Đolić MB, Rajaković-Ognjanović VN, Štrbac SB, Rakočević ZL, Veljović ĐN, Dimitrijević SI, Rajaković LV (2015) The antimicrobial efficiency of silver activated sorbents. Appl Surf Sci 357:819–831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong HJ, Chen G, Sun JX, Li CM, Yu YG, Chen DH (2013) A novel high-efficiency visible-light sensitive Ag2CO3 photocatalyst with universal photodegradation performances: simple synthesis, reaction mechanism and first-principles study. Appl Catal B Environ 134-135:46–54

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elmas S, Ambroz F, Chugh D, Nann T (2016) Microfluidic chip for the photocatalytic production of active chlorine. Langmuir 32(19):4952–4958

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Endo-Kimura M, Janczarek M, Bielan Z, Zhang D, Wang KL, Markowska-Szczupak A, Kowalska E (2019) Photocatalytic and antimicrobial properties of Ag2O/TiO2 heterojunction. ChemEngineering 3(1):3

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han CC, Ge L, Chen CF, Li YJ, Zhao Z, Xiao XL, Li ZL, Zhang JL (2014) Site-selected synthesis of novel Ag@AgCl nanoframes with efficient visible light induced photocatalytic activity. J Mater Chem A 2(31):12594–12600

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones VJ, Rose NL, Self AE, Solovieva N, Yang H (2015) Evidence of global pollution and recent environmental change in Kamchatka, Russia. Glob Planet Chang 134:82–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khosa MA, Shah SS, Feng XS (2014) Metal sericin complexation and ultrafiltration of heavy metals from aqueous solution. Chem Eng J 244(10):446–456

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim IY, Park S, Kim H, Park S, Ruoff RS, Hwang SJ (2014) Strongly-coupled freestanding hybrid films of graphene and layered titanate nanosheets: an effective way to tailor the physicochemical and antibacterial properties of graphene film. Adv Funct Mater 24(16):2288–2294

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ling Z, Wang T, Makarem M, Santiago Cintrón M, Cheng HN, Kang X, Bacher M, Potthast A, Rosenau T, King H, Delhom CD, Nam S, Vincent Edwards J, Kim SH, Xu F, French AD (2019) Effects of ball milling on the structure of cotton cellulose. Cellulose 26(1):305–328

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu M, L-a H, Li Q, Hu X, Yu S (2016) Heterogeneous degradation of tetracycline by magnetic Ag/AgCl/modified zeolite X–persulfate system under visible light. RSC Adv 6(42):35216–35227

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lyu LM, Huang MH (2011) Investigation of relative stability of different facets of Ag2O nanocrystals through face-selective etching. J Phys Chem C 115(36):17768–17773

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lyu LM, Huang MH (2013) Formation of Ag2S cages from polyhedral Ag2O nanocrystals and their electrochemical properties. Chem Asian J 8(8):1847–1853

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Méndezmedrano MG, Kowalska E, Lehoux A, Herissan A, Ohtani B, Bahena D, Briois V, Colbeaujustin C, Rodríguezlópez JL, Remita H (2017) Surface modification of TiO2 with Ag nanoparticles and CuO nanoclusters for application in photocatalysis. J Phys Chem C 120(9):5143–5154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez M, Nolan NT, Pillai SC, Seery MK, Falaras P, Kontos AG, Dunlop PSM, Hamilton JWJ, Byrne JA, O'Shea K, Entezari M, Dionysiou DD (2012) A review on the visible light active titanium dioxide photocatalysts for environmental applications. Appl Catal B Environ 125(33):331–349

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Service RF (2003) Nanomaterials show signs of toxicity. Science 300(5617):243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Service RF (2004) Nanotechnology Grows Up. Science 304(5678):1732–1734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, Song Z, Qian X, Ni Y (2011) A review on use of fillers in cellulosic paper for functional applications. Ind Eng Chem Res 50(2):661–666

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh S, Mahalingam H, Singh PK (2013) Polymer-supported titanium dioxide photocatalysts for environmental remediation: A review. Appl Catal A Gen 462-463(9):178–195

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh N, Tripathy SS, Pant RP, Rashmi, Gupta PK (2014) A new, rugged, precise and accurate gravimetry method for the determination of silver in various silver materials. Anal Methods 6(11):3682–3688

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tarannum N, Divya, Gautam YK (2019) Facile green synthesis and applications of silver nanoparticles: a state-of-the-art review. RSC Adv 9:34926–34948

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tian B, Dong R, Zhang J, Bao S, Yang F, Zhang J (2014) Sandwich-structured AgCl@Ag@TiO2 with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity for organic pollutant degradation and E. coli K12 inactivation. Appl Catal B Environ 158-159(3):76–84

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang P, Huang B, Qin X, Zhang X, Dai Y, Wei J, Whangbo MH (2008) Ag@AgCl: a highly efficient and stable photocatalyst active under visible light. Angew Chem Int Edit 47(41):7931–7933

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang P, Huang DB, Zhang XY, Qin XY, Dai Y, Wang ZY, Lou ZZ (2011) Highly efficient visible light plasmonic photocatalysts Ag@Ag(Cl,Br) and Ag@AgCl-AgI. ChemCatChem 3(2):360–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang D, Xue G, Zhen Y, Fu F, Li D (2012) Monodispersed Ag nanoparticles loaded on the surface of spherical Bi2WO6 nanoarchitectures with enhanced photocatalytic activities. J Mater Chem 22(11):4751–4758

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Zhang HR, Huang C, Xiong L, Luo J, Chen XD (2017) Study on non-isothermal crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene/bacterial cellulose composites. RSC Adv 7(67):42113–42122

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xie Y, Huang Z, Zhang Z, Zhang X, Wen R, Liu Y, Fang M, Wu X (2016) Controlled synthesis and photocatalytic properties of rhombic dodecahedral Ag3PO4 with high surface energy. Appl Surf Sci 389:56–66

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang SF, Niu CG, Huang DW, Zhang H, Zeng GM (2017) Ag/AgCl nanoparticles-modified CdSnO3·3H2O nanocubes photocatalyst for the degradation of methyl orange and antibiotics under visible light irradiation. J Colloid Interface Sci 505:96–104

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yao X, Liu X, Zhu D, Zhao C, Lu L (2015) Synthesis of cube-like Ag/AgCl plasmonic photocatalyst with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity. Catal Commun 59:151–155

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yi Z, Ye J, Kikugawa N, Kako T, Ouyang S, Stuart-Williams H, Yang H, Cao J, Luo W, Li Z, Liu Y, Withers RL (2010) An orthophosphate semiconductor with photooxidation properties under visible-light irradiation. Nat Mater 9(7):559–564

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z, Wang Z, Cao SW, Xue C (2013) Au/Pt nanoparticle-decorated TiO2 nanofibers with plasmon-enhanced photocatalytic activities for solar-to-fuel conversion. J Phys Chem C 117(49):25939–25947

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Z, Peng X, Zhong L, Wu L, Cao X, Sun RC (2016) Electrospun cellulose acetate supported Ag@AgCl composites with facet-dependent photocatalytic properties on degradation of organic dyes under visible-light irradiation. Carbohydr Polym 136:322–328

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou H, Zhou J, Wang T, Zeng J, Liu L, Zhou Z, Zeng L, Liu Q (2017) In-situ synthesized Ag@AgCl-collagen fiber nano-hybrid materials and their photocatalytic activities. Nanosci Nanotechnol Lett 9(6):873–879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou H, Zhou J, Wang T, Zeng J, Liu L, Jian J, Zhou Z, Zeng L, Liu Q, Liu G (2018) In-situ preparation of silver salts/collagen fiber hybrid composites and their photocatalytic and antibacterial activities. J Hazard Mater 359:274–280

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou H, Wang X, Wang T, Zeng J, Yuan Z, Jian J, Zhou Z, Zeng L, Yang H (2019) In situ decoration of Ag@AgCl nanoparticles on polyurethane/silk fibroin composite porous films for photocatalytic and antibacterial applications. Eur Polym J 118:153–162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21776067), Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (18C0354 and 17C0630), and the CAS Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion (No. Y707k61001).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, 411201, China

    Zhengqiu Yuan, Huizhi Yang, Chengfeng Li, Jian Jian, Jianxian Zeng, Lingwei Zeng, Yuguang Sui & Hu Zhou

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Zhengqiu Yuan

  3. College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Zhengqiu Yuan

  4. School of Chemical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, People’s Republic of China

    Pan Xu

Authors
  1. Zhengqiu Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Huizhi Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pan Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chengfeng Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jian Jian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jianxian Zeng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Lingwei Zeng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Yuguang Sui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Hu Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Huizhi Yang and Pan Xu performed the synthesis of the Ag NP catalysts. Chengfeng Li and Yuguang Sui carried out the photocatalytic activity testing. Jian Jian, Jianxian Zeng, and Lingwei Zeng analyzed and interpreted the data regarding the catalyst structure and the photocatalytic mechanism. Zhengqiu Yuan and Hu Zhou were the major contributors in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jian Jian or Hu Zhou.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

All the authors listed have approved the manuscript.

Consent to publish

This manuscript is approved by all authors for publication in Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Sami Rtimi

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 1940 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yuan, Z., Yang, H., Xu, P. et al. Facile in situ synthesis of silver nanocomposites based on cellulosic paper for photocatalytic applications. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 6411–6421 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10900-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10900-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation