In situ preparation of Ag@AgCl/Bio-veins composites and their photocatalytic activity and recyclability

Abstract

The industrial application of nano-photocatalysts in wastewater treatment has been severely restricted for a long time due to their difficult separation, poor reusability, and low efficiency. In this work, a facile strategy was proposed to enhance the photocatalytic activity and recovery performance of Ag@AgCl nanocatalysts. Biological veins (Bio-veins) with a unique 3D porous construction were used as carriers for the in-situ growth of Ag@AgCl nanoparticles. Scanning electron microscopy results showed that the Ag@AgCl nanoparticles were uniformly loaded on the surface and interior of the Bio-veins, and the size of the Ag@AgCl nanoparticles immobilized on the Bio-veins (50–300 nm) was significantly smaller than Ag@AgCl obtained by the co-precipitation method (1–3 μm). The Bio-veins played a vital role in the photocatalysis reaction system. The degradation efficiency of the Ag@AgCl/Bio-veins(CI4) was up to 3.50 times as high as pure Ag@AgCl. Furthermore, the composites also exhibited excellent recyclability and stability under both visible and solar light. This work provided a suitable strategy for nano-photocatalysts for practical application and may also offer new possibilities for the high-value utilization of biomass materials.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Ag@AgCl / biological veins / photocatalytic activity / recyclability

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21776067), the Outstanding Youth Foundation of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2020JJ2014), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (Grant Nos. 2022JJ30264, 2020JJ5159), and the Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (Grant Nos. 20C0803, 21B0476).

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