Facile synthesis of Ag@AgCl-contained cellulose hydrogels and their application

A cube-like Ag@AgCl-contained cellulose hydrogel was successfully synthesized via a facile two-step method. During the reaction process, the cross-linker of the cellulose hydrogel served as the chlorine source. And the hydrogel network played important role in the control of Ag@AgCl particles morphology. No additional surfactants, templates, reducing agents or special equipment are required during this synthesis procedure. The resulting hydrogel exhibit highly efficient degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation due to the photocatalytic property of the contained Ag@AgCl particles. Cycle experiments demonstrated good photocatalytic stability of this hydrogel in repeated use. This study provides a simple approach in fabrication of plasmon photocatalysts which could be reused easily without centrifugation.