Synthesis and characterization of Ag/AgCl–activated carbon composites for enhanced visible light photocatalysis

• Ag/AgCl–AC composites were synthesized by deposition-precipitation-photoreduction.
• The composites were photocatalytically active for MO and phenol degradation under visible light.
• A mechanism was proposed based on the roles of Ag, AgCl, and AC.

An adsorptive photocatalyst composite based on Ag/AgCl and activated carbon was proposed and investigated. The prepared composite was synthesized using impregnation-precipitation-photoreduction, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission and scanning electron microscopies, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N2 sorption, and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry. The photoactivity of the composite was studied for the degradation of methyl orange and phenol under visible light. A mechanism for synergistic adsorption and photocatalysis by Ag/AgCl–AC was proposed, where the silver acts as the electron/hole generator, and polarization of the photoinduced charges relative to AgCl facilitates electron–hole separation, while the AC works to concentrate the pollutant around the active sites.

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