Facile in situ synthesis of silver nanocomposites based on cellulosic paper for photocatalytic applications.

In this work, various photocatalysts were synthesized with an impregnation-precipitation process to in situ decorate Ag-based nanoparticles (NPs, including AgPO, AgCl, AgO, and AgCO) on the cellulosic paper. The structure and properties of the Ag-based composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmitting electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra, and photocatalysis testing. The results showed that cellulosic paper is an efficient carrier which is feasible to grasp NPs due to the cellulosic nanofiber-network microstructure. Among the obtained samples, AgCO and AgCl NPs on cellulosic paper displayed high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange under ultraviolet and visible light. However, photo lability of AgCO limits its recyclable. AgCl showed a better reutilization with the assistance of a surface plasmon resonance effect by Ag NPs that were grown in situ on the AgCl NPs, which formed Ag@AgCl nanocomposite structure. The photocatalytic activity of the AgCl/cellulosic paper decreased only slightly after three runs of photodegradation of methyl orange. The possible mechanism for photocatalysis was proposed. This work may provide a new method for the design of silver-based NPs/cellulosic paper nanocomposite photoreactors with favorable photocatalytic activities for industrial applications.