Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic activity of visible-light-driven plasmonic Ag/AgBr/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites

• A plasmonic Ag/AgBr/ZnFe2O4 photocatalyst has been successfully synthesized.
• Ag/AgBr/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites exhibit high visible light photocatalytic activity.
• Ag/AgBr/ZnFe2O4 photocatalyst is stable and magnetically separable.

A visible-light-driven plasmonic Ag/AgBr/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite has been successfully synthesized via a deposition–precipitation and photoreduction through a novel one-pot process. X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were employed to investigate the crystal structure, chemical composition, morphology, and optical properties of the as-prepared nanocomposites. The photocatalytic activities of the nanocomposites were evaluated by photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and phenol under visible light. The results demonstrated that the obtained Ag/AgBr/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity as compared to pure ZnFe2O4. In addition, the sample photoreduced for 20 min and calcined at 500 °C achieved the highest photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, the Ag/AgBr/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite has high stability under visible light irradiation and could be conveniently separated by using an external magnetic field.

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