Rational design of AgCl@Zr3+-ZrO2 nanostructures for ultra-efficient visible-light photodegradation of emerging pollutants

Achieving high-efficiency charge separation and strong oxidizing capacity are of great significance for photodegradation of organic pollutants. Herein, novel self-doped Zr3+-ZrO2 nanoclusters and AgCl@Zr3+-ZrO2 heterostructures with high surface areas were fabricated for photodegradation of organic pollutants under visible-light illumination. The experimental results revealed that self-doped Zr3+-ZrO2 clusters were formed during a carbothermal reduction process, and the adsorbed surface chlorine promoted the adhesions of Ag+ to form AgCl over the surface of Zr3+-ZrO2 clusters. The obtained AgCl@Zr3+-ZrO2 heterojunctions displayed ultrahigh-performance degradation of norfloxacin under visible-light illumination, and the prepared AgCl@Zr3+-ZrO2-11 heterojunction presented the highest photocatalytic performance with a rate constant of 0.21989 min−1, which was approximately 62.12 times that of Zr3+-ZrO2 clusters and 21.95 times that of AgCl and far better than that of commercial ZrO2. The formation of Zr3+ self-doping, strongly combined interfaces, and high surface areas highly promoted charge separation for highly enhanced photodegradation of organic pollutants.