Modified hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of reduced graphene oxide-silver selenide nanocomposites with enhanced reactive oxygen species generation

A visible-light photocatalyst containing Ag2Se and reduced graphene oxide（RGO） was synthesized by a facile sonochemical-assisted hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron mi-croscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectros-copy results indicated that the RGO-Ag2Se nanocomposite contained small crystalline Ag2Se nano-particles dispersed over graphene nanosheets and absorbed visible light. The high crystallinity of the nanoparticles increased photocatalytic activity by facilitating charge transport. N2 adsorp-tion-desorption measurements revealed that the RGO-Ag2Se nanocomposite contained numerous pores with an average diameter of 9 nm, which should allow reactant molecules to readily access the Ag2Se nanoparticles. The RGO-Ag2Se nanocomposite exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than bulk Ag2Se nanoparticles to degrade organic pollutant rhodamine B and industrial dye Texbrite BA-L under visible-light irradiation（λ 420 nm）. The generation o