Silver Silicate@Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites for Enhanced Visible Light Photodegradation Performance

The abilities of adsorption and separation of electron hole pairs are two important factors in photo degradation, and a balance between them is required to obtain an excellent photodegradation performance. As a new photocatalyst, silver silicate has a poor conductivity that hinders its photodegradation ability. Herein, silver silicate (AgSiOx)@carbon nanotube (CNT) and AgSiOx@reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposites are prepared for the first time to improve the photodegradation performance of AgSiOx. The influences of CNT and RGO contents on improving the photodegradation efficiency of AgSiOx are different due to the differences in the concentration of oxygen-containing groups and the electrical conductivity. The photodegradation efficiency of AgSiOx@CNT nanocomposites first increases and then decreases with increasing the concentration of CNTs, while the removal efficiency of pollutants by AgSiOx@RGO nanocomposites increases with the GO concentration owing to the residual oxygen-containing functional groups on RGO. The AgSiOx@CNT nanocomposite with a trace amount of CNTs (0.1 wt %) shows fairly effective photodegradation activity, and its photodegradation process is completed in 10 min with a higher removal efficiency and rate constant than reported.