Synthesis of supported Ag/AgCl composite materials and their photocatalytic activity

In this study, Ag nanocatalysts were loaded onto micro-sized soft hydrogel spheres to achieve a high dispersion stability and recyclability. Using poly(N-hydroxymethyl acrylamide) (PNHMA) hydrogel microspheres which contain hydroxyl groups as templates for loading Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs), PNHMA/Ag composites were prepared in situ using ethylene glycol as the reducing agent and solvent. AgNPs were controllably transformed to Ag-AgCl composite particles using CCl4 as the chloride source, from which chloride ions are released slowly in the precipitation reaction. The PNHMA/Ag composites exhibited an unevenly patterned surface morphology resulting from the space-confinement effect of the PNHMA microgels constituting a 3D network structure for AgNPs loading. AgCl particles with irregular polyhedral structures were fabricated on the surface of the PNHMA/Ag composite. The relative amounts of Ag and AgCl in the PNHMA/Ag-AgCl composite could be effectively tuned by varying the CCl4 dosage. The PNHMA/Ag-AgCl composites showed an excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange (MO).