The effective photocatalysis and antibacterial properties of AgBr/AgVO₃ composites under visible-light

With the discharge of large amount of organic pollutants and antibiotics into the water environment, the water cycle has been seriously polluted, and at the same time, various drug-resistant bacteria have emerged in succession, which poses a serious threat to human health. In recent years, photocatalytic nanomaterials have become a research hotspot in the antimicrobial area. In this study, AgBr/AgVO₃ photocatalysts were prepared by a hydrothermal process and an in situ growth method. The composites were tightly connected by the (501) plane of AgVO₃ and the (200) lattice plane of AgBr. The photocatalytic activity was tested by degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) solution under visible-light, and the result indicated that the photodegradation rate for RhB solution was 92.3% by the photocatalysis with 0.5AgBr/AgVO₃ and the photocatalytic performance of 0.5AgBr/AgVO₃ was improved compared to pure AgVO₃ and AgBr. In addition, more than 99.997% of E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa cells were killed by the photocatalysis with 0.5AgBr/AgVO₃ within 30 min. These results demonstrated that the 0.5AgBr/AgVO₃ heterojunction photocatalyst could be widely used in the treatment of environmental pollution and in the antibacterial field.