Highly efficient composite visible light-driven Ag–AgBr/g-C3N4 plasmonic photocatalyst for degrading organic pollutants

As a potential visible-light photocatalyst, the efficiency of graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been limited by its wide band gap. In this paper, Ag/AgBr- functionalized g-C3N4 nanostructured composites have been fabricated through in situ photoreduction of AgBr/g-C3N4 prepared by an oil/water microemulsion method, which effectively inhibits the agglomeration of AgBr on the surface of g-C3N4. The as-prepared Ag/AgBr/g-C3N4 is used as a stable plasmonic photocatalyst for photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) pollutant under visible light. Compared with single-phase g-C3N4, the catalytic activities of Ag/AgBr/g-C3N4 nanocomposites are greatly enhanced mainly due to fast separation of photo-generated electron–hole pairs and improved absorption of visible light. The material shows good stability of its photocatalytic activity upon reusability test, which could lead to potential applications in pollution treatment.