In situ ultrasonic formation of AgBr/Ag2CO3 nanosheets composite with enhanced visible-driven photocatalytic performance

• The AgBr/Ag2CO3 hybrids were synthesized through an in-situ ultrasonic method.
• The AgBr/Ag2CO3 hybrids have excellent visible light-driven photocatalytic activity.
• This method can BE extended to prepare other inorganic/inorganic composite materials.

A visible light-driven AgBr/Ag2CO3 nanosheets composite has been fabricated via a in-situ ultrasonic anion-exchange method at room temperature, using Na2CO3 and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as carbonate anion and bromide anion resources, respectively. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis demonstrated that the obtained products were consisted of AgBr nanoparticles and Ag2CO3 nanosheets, in addition the AgBr nanoparticles were well distributed on the surface of sheet-like Ag2CO3 to form AgBr/Ag2CO3 heterostructure. Evaluation of the prepared AgBr/Ag2CO3 hybrids photocatalytic activity by degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) or Methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation (λ>420 nm) indicated they have efficient and higher photocatalytic activities compared to the pure AgBr and Ag2CO3 samples, which could be related to the matched band potential band potential between AgBr and Ag2CO3. Besides, a possible photocatalytic mechanism of the hybrids was also proposed.