Egg White-Mediated Synthesis and Application of Ag/CeO2 Photocatalyst for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity under Visible Light Irradiation

The Ag/CeO 2 composite photocatalysts have been successfully prepared using fresh egg white as a gelling agent at various calcination temperatures, respectively. It has been found that Ag doping reduces the band gap of the composite and improves its response to visible light. The photocatalytic performance of Ag/CeO 2 composite photocatalysts prepared at different calcination temperatures has been tested, and it has been found that the samples calcined at 600°C have excellent properties compared with pure CeO 2 . The degradation rate of the sample calcination at 600°C to methylene blue (MB) reached 94.9% under a 300 W Xenon lamp light irradiation for 60 min. In addition, the Ag/CeO 2 photocatalyst exhibits good photocatalytic stability and durability. Finally, the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of MB is proposed in combination with the active substance capture test. The high photocatalytic activity of Ag/CeO 2 composite photocatalysts may be attributed to the doping of Ag, which inhibits the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs.