High-efficiency photodegradation of levofloxacin enabled by hybrid Ag2MoO4@AgCl composites: Performance, pathways, and mechanism insight

High-performance composite photocatalysts attracts considerable research interests for the photodegradation of emerging pollutants under visible-light irradiation. In this study, hybrid AgCl-coated Ag 2 MoO 4 composites were synthesized using a chemical deposition strategy for the photodegradation of organic pollutants. The successful establishment of Ag 2 MoO 4 @AgCl nanostructures led to a highly decreased recombination of photo-generated electrons and holes, as well as significantly improved charge separation. The synthesized Ag 2 MoO 4 @AgCl composites exhibited markedly enhanced photocatalytic performance for the degradation of organic pollutants compared to pristine Ag 2 MoO 4 and AgCl due to the creation of unique heterostructures with strongly combined interfaces. Notably, the obtained Ag 2 MoO 4 @AgCl-11 composite demonstrated the highest photocatalytic performance for levofloxacin degradation with a first-order kinetic constant of 0.0436 min −1 , which was 31.14 times that of Ag 2 MoO 4 sample and 8.90 times that of AgCl sample. Furthermore, the synthesized Ag 2 MoO 4 @AgCl composites showcased an excellent photocatalytic stability. This work highlights the great potential of Ag-based composite photocatalysts for the efficient photodegradation of emerging pollutants under visible-light irradiation.