Synthesis and characterization of Ag/AgBrO3 photocatalyst with high photocatalytic activity

A new Ag/AgBrO3 photocatalyst was prepared by mixing aqueous solutions of AgNO3 and NaBrO3. The catalyst's structure and performance were investigated with X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The UV-vis absorption spectrum of Ag/AgBrO3 exhibits a band gap of 3.97 eV. The results show that the Ag/AgBrO3 semiconductor can be excited by ultraviolet-visible light. The photodegradation of Rhodamine B displayed much higher photocatalytic activity than that of N-doped TiO2 under the same experimental conditions. Moreover, OH and O2− generated in the photocatalysis played a key role of the photodegradation of Rhodamine B.