Near-infrared light photocatalytic ability for degradation of tetracycline using carbon dots modified Ag/AgBr nanocomposites

Ever-increasing environmental concerns have stimulated great progresses in photocatalytic technology in collection with the environmental remediation and solar energy utilization. In this study, carbon dots (CDs)/Ag/AgBr nanocomposites were prepared via a facile precipitation-photoreduction method. Moreover, CDs/Ag/AgBr nanocomposites show a strong absorbance in the full solar spectrum due to the interaction of Ag nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) and CDs. Meanwhile, compared with pristine AgBr and Ag/AgBr nanoparticles, a dramatic enhancement in the degradation of tetracycline under near-infrared light irradiation is observed over the CDs/Ag/AgBr nanocomposites. Significantly, the extraordinary photocatalytic performance is attributed to the extended absorption in the full spectrum, effective charge separation, and synergistic enhancement induced by surface plasmon resonance of Ag-NPs and the photogenerated change transfer properties of CDs in the complex nanocomposites.