Novel highly-active Ag/Bi dual nanoparticles-decorated BiOBr photocatalyst for efficient degradation of ibuprofen

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of noble nanometals can be utilized to effectively improve the catalytic performance of semiconductor photocatalysts. In this work, a novel composite photocatalyst of BiOBr microspheres simultaneously decorated by Ag and Bi dual nanoparticles (NPs) has been successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method plus one-step reduction method. And the morphology, structure, chemical composition and photoelectrical properties of this composite photocatalyst (Ag/Bi–BiOBr) were further characterized. Due to the SPR effect of Ag and Bi dual NPs, Ag/Bi–BiOBr showed the high light absorption with narrow band gap, as well as fast charge separation via metal-semiconductor heterojunction so as to realize an efficient degradation of ibuprofen (IBP) under simulated solar irradiation. Through the further optimization of the loading amounts of Ag and Bi dual NPs, the excellent photocatalytic activity in the Ag/Bi–BiOBr has been achieved that 92.3% of IBP was removed within 60 min, which is among the best results reported so far for IBP degradation via photocatalysis. A facile preparation strategy of novel highly-active composite photocatalyst of BiOBr microspheres decorated by Ag and Bi dual nanoparticles has been proposed for efficient degradation of ibuprofen. •A simple one-step reduction strategy was proposed to prepare Ag/Bi dual nanoparticles-decorated BiOBr (Ag/Bi-BiOBr).•Bi nanoparticles were directly reduced from BiOBr without additional Bi precursors.•Ag and Bi nanoparticles increased the light absorbance and decreased the charge recombination.•The Ag/Bi-BiOBr showed efficient and stable photocatalytic activity on ibuprofen degradation.•The holes (h+) and electrons (e−) were the uppermost active species for ibuprofen degradation.