In-situ oxidation synthesis of Cu2O/Ag/AgCl microcubes with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

The hierarchical Cu2O/Ag/AgCl microcubes were prepared by a facile method at room temperature using Cu2O/Ag microcube as a template and CuCl2 as an oxidant. It was demonstrated that Cu2O/Ag/AgCl products were obtained successfully because CuCl2 could only oxidize Ag in Cu2O/Ag microcubes into AgCl, while the composition of Ag and AgCl in Cu2O/Ag/AgCl was controlled by regulating the amount of CuCl2. The visible-light photocatalytic activity of the obtained Cu2O/Ag/AgCl microcubes with different composition was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO). When the ratio of Ag to AgCl is 1:2 of the as-prepared Cu2O/Ag/AgCl product, 93% of MO can be degraded in 16 min, indicating outstanding visible light photocatalytic performance. It is attributed to the key role of Cu2O for promotion separation of the photogenerated carrier by preventing the recombination of the electrons from the AgCl back to the metal Ag through the interface and yields the improved photocatalytic performance. The proposed charge transfer process was verified by the test of active species. The experimental results indicate that the Cu2O/Ag/AgCl microcubes can be used for the degradation of organic pollutants. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.