Fabrication of ternary visible-light-driven semiconductor photocatalyst and its effective photocatalytic performance

Heterogeneous semiconductor photocatalysis has been considered as a cost-effective alternative for the eliminating hazardous pollutants and generating sustainable energy. Graphene, a 2D allotrope of carbon, has received significant attentions due to its outstanding properties. In this work, a highly efficient visible-light-driven ternary heterostructure semiconductor RGO/Ag2O/Ag2WO4 (RGAAW) Ag-based photocatalyst was prepared and its photocatalytic activity was evaluated by photodegradation of methylene orange (MO). The morphology, structure and optical absorption properties of the as-prepared RGAAW were characterized by SEM, XRD, XPS, FT-IR and UV−vis DRS, respectively. The obtained result was found that the as-prepared RGAAW exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity, which was almost 11.5 and 7 times as high as those of individual Ag2O and Ag2WO4, respectively. The enhancement of photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the reduced graphene oxide sheets can function as an electron collector and transporter to lengthen the lifetime of the charge carriers. Moreover, the as-prepared RGAAW showed excellent stability toward the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO). The possible mechanism of photocatalytic activity enhancement was proposed.