Novel indirect Z-scheme photocatalyst of Ag nanoparticles and polymer polypyrrole co-modified BiOBr for photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants

Abstract Mimicking the natural photosynthesis, artificial Z-scheme photocatalysis enables more efficient utilization of solar energy for degradation of organic pollutants. Herein, an indirect Z-scheme photocatalyst of Ag nanoparticles and polymer polypyrrole (PPy) co-modified BiOBr was rationally designed and successfully synthesized via a combination of hydrothermal technique, in-situ photo-reduction and oxidative polymerization method. Dramatically, BiOBr-Ag-PPy system showed superior photocatalytic performance and excellent stability in degradation of both the typical triphenylmethane dye (malachite green) and colorless organic compound (phenol). Especially for BAP-0.4, its degradation conversion of malachite green was 6.4, 2.4 and 1.6 times of those of pure BiOBr, BiOBr-Ag and BiOBr-PPy, respectively, and can still maintain more than 91% even after fifth cycle experiment. The trapping experiments of reactive species and electron spin resonance (ESR) tests confirmed that the O 2 − and h + were main active species in photocatalytic degradation. Through experimental investigations and theoretical analyses, the possible charge carriers transfer process over BiOBr-Ag-PPy ternary Z-scheme photocatalyst was proposed. In the indirect all-solid-state Z-scheme BiOBr-Ag-PPy heterojunction structure, by quenching the photo-generated electrons and holes with weaker redox ability in metal Ag nanoparticles, the electrons in the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of PPy and holes in the valence band (VB) of BiOBr can survive and then have the opportunity to participate in the surface reaction, thus showing an increased photocatalytic activity.