Ag@AgCl-TiO₂/organic rectorite/quaternized chitosan microspheres: An efficient and environmental photocatalyst

A plasmonic composite, Ag@AgCl-TiO₂/OREC, was prepared by sol–gel combing calcination technique, precipitation, and photoreduction method. Then, Ag@AgCl-TiO₂/OREC/QCS composite microspheres were fabricated by an emulsification/chemical crosslinking method using quaternized chitosan and Ag@AgCl-TiO₂/OREC as scaffolds materials, potassium persulphate as initiator and N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide as crosslinker. The resulting materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible diffused reflectance spectra (UV–vis DRS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM showed that the Ag@AgCl-TiO₂/OREC/QCS composite microspheres had loose, rough surface, and spherical shape, with an average diameter of 15–45 μm. The Ag@AgCl-TiO₂/OREC/QCS composite microspheres present good adsorption–photocatalytic activities in the degradation of methylene orange (MO) and 92.1% MO was degraded after irradiation for 180 min. The high photocatalysis activity was attributed to the combined results of the relative high adsorption capacity, loose structure, and the surface plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles formed on the surface of AgCl.