The effective photocatalysis and antibacterial properties of AgBr/AgVO3 composites under visible-light

Abstract

With the discharge of large amount of organic pollutants and antibiotics into the water environment, the water cycle has been seriously polluted, and at the same time, various drug-resistant bacteria have emerged in succession, which poses a serious threat to human health. In recent years, photocatalytic nanomaterials have become a research hotspot in the antimicrobial area. In this study, AgBr/AgVO₃ photocatalysts were prepared by a hydrothermal process and an in situ growth method. The composites were tightly connected by the (501) plane of AgVO₃ and the (200) lattice plane of AgBr. The photocatalytic activity was tested by degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) solution under visible-light, and the result indicated that the photodegradation rate for RhB solution was 92.3% by the photocatalysis with 0.5AgBr/AgVO₃ and the photocatalytic performance of 0.5AgBr/AgVO₃ was improved compared to pure AgVO₃ and AgBr. In addition, more than 99.997% of E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa cells were killed by the photocatalysis with 0.5AgBr/AgVO₃ within 30 min. These results demonstrated that the 0.5AgBr/AgVO₃ heterojunction photocatalyst could be widely used in the treatment of environmental pollution and in the antibacterial field.