In situ solid-state fabrication of hybrid AgCl/AgI/AgIO3 with improved UV-to-visible photocatalytic performance

The AgCl/AgI/AgIO3 composites were synthesized through a one-pot room-temperature in situ solid-state approach with the feature of convenient and eco-friendly. The as-prepared composites exhibit superior photocatalytic performance than pure AgIO3 for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under both UV and visible light irradiation. The photodegradation rate toward MO of the AgCl/AgI/AgIO3 photocatalyst can reach 100% after 12 min irradiation under UV light, or 85.4% after 50 min irradiation under visible light, being significantly higher than AgCl, AgI, AgIO3 and AgI/AgIO3. In addition, the AgCl/AgI/AgIO3 photocatalyst possesses strong photooxidation ability for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB), phenol, bisphenol A (BPA) and tetracycline hydrochloride under visible light irradiation. The reactive species capture experiments confirmed that the h+ and •O2- play an essential role during the photocatalytic process under UV light or visible light irradiation. The enhanced effect may be beneficial from the enhanced light adsorption in full spectrum and increased separation efficiency of photogenerated hole-electron pairs, which can be ascribed to the synergistic effect among AgCl, AgI and AgIO3 nanoplates in AgCl/AgI/AgIO3 composites.