title: Super-high photocatalytic activity, stability and improved photocatalytic mechanism of monodisperse AgBr doped with In.
abstract: Monodisperse In(3+) doped AgBr (In-AgBr) nanoparticles were synthesized by a hydrothermal route. The pure AgBr and In-AgBr samples were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, measurement of total organic carbon, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometry. In-AgBr was more photocatalytically active than pure AgBr in photodegradation of 20 mg/L methyl orange under visible light irradiation (λ>420 nm). The 0.05 mol/L In-AgBr sample showed the highest photodegradation efficiency and high stability. The doped In(3+) expanded the light absorption range, reduced the band gap of AgBr and improved the utilization of photons. The additional In(3+) can inhibit the formation of Ag particles on the surface of AgBr, which can further stabilize AgBr. The doped In(3+) in AgBr served as a temporary site for trapping of photoinduced electrons, and thereby obviously restrained the recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs on the surface of AgBr. The enhanced photocatalytic ability of In-AgBr may be mainly attributed to the improved separation efficiency of photogenerated charges.
authors.affiliation: College of Environment and Chemical Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Hollow-Fiber Membrane Materials and Membrane Processes, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, PR China. Electronic address: songlmnk@sohu.com.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: College of Science, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: zhangshujuan@tust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shujuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Textile Engineering, Zhejiang Industry Polytechnic College, Shaoxing 312000, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Enhanced mechanism; In-AgBr; Methyl orange; Photodegradation