Facile synthesis of AgCl/BiYO3 composite for efficient photodegradation of RO16 under UV and visible light irradiation

Abstract

AgCl/BiYO3 composite was successfully synthesized via the aqueous precipitation method followed by calcination. The varied amount of AgCl (10, 20 and 30%) was mixed into BiYO3 via sonochemical-assisted method. The structures and morphologies of the as-prepared AgCl/BiYO3 composite were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The optical absorption spectrum of AgCl/BiYO3 composite showed strong absorption in visible region. The photocatalytic activity of AgCl/BiYO3 composite was evaluated by the photodegradation of reactive orange16 (RO16), which was selected to represent the dye pollutants, under UV and visible light irradiation. The results indicated that 20% AgCl/BiYO3 photocatalyst was the most capable photocatalyst in this series in the degradation of RO16 under both UV and visible light illumination within 1 h. Moreover, the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of AgCl/BiYO3 was elucidated using three types of free radical scavengers. The significant enhancement was attributed to the formation of AgCl/BiYO3 heterojunction resulting in the low electron-hole pair recombination rate.