Ag-AgBr nanoparticles loaded on TiO2 nanofibers as an efficient heterostructured photocatalyst driven by visible light

A novel photocatalyst Ag-AgBr/TiO2 heterostructured nanofibers was fabricated by means of combining solvothermal technique with photoreduction method based on the electrospun TO2 nanofibers support. And, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis spectrophotometer (UV-vis), and photoluminescence (PL) measurements were used to characterize the structure, morphology, and properties of the as-prepared photocatalysts. Further, the photocatalytic activity of photocatalysts was tested by degrading methylene blue dye under visible light. As a result, the photocatalytic activity of the Ag-AgBr/TiO2 heterostructured nanofibers is far superior to that of TiO2 nanofibers and Ag-AgBr power, which could be attributed to the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag nanoparticles and the synergetic effect between the three components of Ag, AgBr and TiO2. Significantly, the stability and recycling of the photocatalyst was also investigated. The possible mechanism related to the photocatalytic performance of the Ag-AgBr/TiO2 heterostructured nanofibers was also gone deep into discuss. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.