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Facile room temperature synthesis of Ag@AgBr core–shell microspheres with high visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance

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Abstract

The uniform Ag@AgBr core–shell microspheres were synthesized by a very facile wet-chemical route in aqueous solution, including a reduction process to prepare sphere-like Ag core and a deposition process to synthesize AgBr shell. X-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy results confirmed the formation of Ag@AgBr core–shell heterostructures which had been achieved by this simple method. Field emission scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy results of the as-synthesized Ag@AgBr composite revealed that AgBr particles were deposited on the surface of sphere-like Ag core. Under visible-light (λ >420 nm) and real sunlight irradiation, the as-synthesized Ag@AgBr samples exhibit high activity and good stability for the photodegradation of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) in water. The present work suggests that the as-synthesized Ag@AgBr core–shell microsphere can be applied as a visible light-activated photocatalyst in efficient utilization of solar energy for treating water polluted by some chemically stable azo dyes in environment. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of the as-synthesized Ag@AgBr composite might be attributed to accelerated separation efficiency of electron–hole pairs on the interface of the Ag@AgBr hybrids and improved visible-light absorption abilities when AgBr is coupled with Ag.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is a project funded by the Science & Technology Innovation Fund of Yangzhou University (2013CXJ088). Thanks also to The Testing Center of Yangzhou University for the XRD, HRTEM, FESEM, and UV–vis characterization.

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  1. Testing Center of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Changle Wu

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Wu, C. Facile room temperature synthesis of Ag@AgBr core–shell microspheres with high visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance. Journal of Materials Research 30, 677–685 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2015.20

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