Bifunctional AgCl/Ag composites for SERS monitoring and low temperature visible light photocatalysis degradation of pollutant

• AgCl/Ag composites were fabricated in DMF via a photoactivated route.
• Ag nanoparticles were dispersed both on the surface and in the body of AgCl.
• The composites presented great activity for visible light photocatalytic activity.
• The composites have great activity for surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection.
• The catalyst could maintain high activity and stability at lower temperature.

With the assistance of Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), AgCl/Ag composites were fabricated in N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent via a photoactivated route. The size of AgCl particles was in the range of 500 nm to 1 μm and the Ag particle's diameter was about 10–20 nm. Different from those core–shell structures reported before, the Ag nanoparticles were dispersed uniformly both on the surface and in the body of AgCl particles. The generation of such kind of composites was resulted from the reducing ability of DMF and light irradiation during the formation of AgCl particles. The as-obtained AgCl/Ag composites presented great activity for both surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection and visible light photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes. Additionally, the AgCl/Ag composites could maintain high photocatalytic activity even though the ambient temperature was as low as 15 °C and recycle photocatalysis experiments indicated that the photocatalyst exhibited higher stability. Such kind of AgCl/Ag composites holds great potential for environmental monitoring devices and pollutant treatments.

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