AgCl/BiYO3
composite was successfully synthesized via the aqueous precipitation method followed by calcination. The
varied amount of AgCl (10, 20 and 30%) was mixed into BiYO3
via sonochemical-assisted method. The structures and
morphologies of the as-prepared AgCl/BiYO3
composite were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and UV-vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The optical absorption spectrum of AgCl/
BiYO3
composite showed strong absorption in visible region. The photocatalytic activity of AgCl/BiYO3
composite was
evaluated by the photodegradation of reactive orange16 (RO16), which was selected to represent the dye pollutants,
under UV and visible light irradiation. The results indicated that 20% AgCl/BiYO3 photocatalyst was the most capable
photocatalyst in this series in the degradation of RO16 under both UV and visible light illumination within 1 h. Moreover,
the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of AgCl/BiYO3
was elucidated using three types of free radical scavengers.
The significant enhancement was attributed to the formation of AgCl/BiYO3
heterojunction resulting in the low electronhole
pair recombination rate.