Engineering the band structure of CuO via decoration with AgBr to enhance its photocatalytic degradation performance

Design and development of high-effective photocatalysts to remove multiple organic pollutants are a great challenge. Herein, the band structure of CuO is regulated by constructing the heterostructures between AgBr and CuO, which is realized by controlling hybrid morphologies. The as-prepared AgBr/CuO material consists of CuO nanoflakes and AgBr nanoparticles. Notably, AgBr nanoparticles are adhering on the surface of CuO nanosheets, which favors the formation of heterojunction with point to plane contact and fasten electron transfer. The photocatalytic results show that the AgBr/CuO photocatalyst, prepared by using the 0.1 mol AgNO3 and KBr as raw materials, presents superior photodegradation activity toward degradation of multi-pollutants with dye concentration of 15 mg L−1 and pH = 7. The methyl violet removal rate reaches 98% within 60 min in the present of 0.1 g catalyst under visible light, and rhodamine B and methyl blue are degraded to 98 and 78% within 90 min. The radical trapping tests prove that photogenerated superoxide radicals (∙O2−) and holes (h+) act as the main active species in photodegradation of MV. The result indicates that point to plane-contacted heterostructure of AgBr/CuO material plays a key role and it has potential application in the environment remediation.