Visible light activated photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol using silver halide photocatalysts

Abstract

In this study, highly efficient silver halide (Ag/AgX where X= Cl, Br, I), photocatalysts were successfully synthesized through hydrothermal method. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). All three compounds were confirmed to be pure with the associated planes being identified. The photocatalytic activity of these photocatalysts were evaluated through the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-2,4-DCP) under UV and visible light irradiation. Variant photocatalytic efficiency was exhibited dependent on the material used. The Ag/AgBr photocatalysts exhibited the best efficiency among all three catalysts, resulting in an 83.37 % and 89.39 % photodegradation under UV and visible light after 5 h, respectively, at a catalyst loading of 0.5 g/L.