Enhanced photocatalytic activity by synergistic effect of co-loaded Ag₃PO₄/AgCl/active carbon plasmonic photocatalyst under visible light irradiation

Co-loaded photocatalyst of Ag₃PO₄/AgCl/AC (active carbon) with surface plasmon resonance were prepared by facile impregnation-precipitation method. The structure and morphology performance of photocatalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS), X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. The photocatalytic performances of as-prepared photocatalysts were evaluated by degradation of tetracycline (TC). The results showed that Ag₃PO₄/AgCl/AC with the weigh ratio of 2:2:10 exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity which the photocatalytic degradation rate could reach 91.88%. The results of recycling experiments showed higher stable performance of co-loaded photocatalyst. The active species were detected by adding different scavengers in photocatalytic processes, the results revealed that holes and superoxide radicals played key roles in the photocatalytic degradation processes. Photocatalytic dynamic analysis indicated that the photocatalytic degradation processes followed the pseudo-first order kinetics model.