Preparation, characterization of nanocomposites plasmonic photocatalyst C@(Fe3O4–halloysite nanotubes)–Ag/AgCl and its photocatalytic activity

The work reports the fabrication of C@(Fe3O4–halloysite nanotubes)–Ag/AgCl by growing Ag/AgCl on the surface of the carbonization of halloysite nanotubes (hereinafter referred to as HNTS) supported ferroferric oxide hybrid via precipitation–photoreduction method. The structural characteristics of the resulting composite catalyst were studied with X-ray powder diffraction, SEM–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra; the photocatalytic performance of the resulted catalysts were tested using methyl orange (MO) as a model contaminant under visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm). The C@ (Fe3O4–HNTS)–Ag/AgCl composites with 5 wt% C@(Fe3O4–HNTS) showed the highest photocatalytic activity, degrading 97.71% MO after 40 min irradiation and maintaining the high activity even after five cycles. Except for the high removal efficiency of MO, remarkable ·O2– generation performance, and good stability of C@(Fe3O4–HNTS)–Ag/AgCl could be attributed to the presence of carbon-containing organic group and Fe3+ as well, which can act as an electron acceptor for photo-induced electrons from Ag/AgCl during the photocatalytic process and then inhibit the photocorrosion.