Facile synthesis of visible-light-induced mesoporous Ag2O/Fe2(MoO4)3 photocatalysts for degradation of tetracycline

Herein, a novel green procedure design, based on a simple sol-gel route with the occurrence of nonionic surfactant, was performed to obtain mesoporous Ag2O/Fe-2(MoO4)(3) nanocomposites for tetracycline (TC) photodegradation through visible-light illumination. The obtained Ag2O/Fe-2(MoO4)(3) possesses a 2D mesoporous providing a larger surface area than the bulk material traditionally prepared. Ag2O NPs with a particle size of 3 nm are uniformly dispersed in spherical shape onto mesoporous Fe-2(MoO4)(3) surface. The photocatalytic performance over 1.5% Ag2O/Fe-2(MoO4)(3) nanocomposite was achieved about 100% with 9.48 mu molg(-l) min(-1) degradation rate due to its intense harvest in the wide visible range, large surface area and synergistic characteristic between Fe-2(MoO4)(3) and Ag2O NPs. In addition, the rate constant value of 1.5% Ag2O/Fe-2(MoO4)(3) nanocomposite was enhanced 13.4 and 8.5 larger than that P-25 and Fe-2(MoO4)(3) for degradation of TC. The possible mechanism over Ag2O/Fe-2(MoO4)(3) for photodegradation of TC was also addressed. Moreover, the prepared Ag2O/Fe-2(MoO4)(3) exhibited excellent stability and superior recyclability.