Efficient visible-light-driven S-scheme AgVO₃/Ag₂S heterojunction photocatalyst for boosting degradation of organic pollutants

The traditional semiconductor photocatalysts for solving the related environmental aggravation are often challenged by the recombination of photogenerated carriers. Designing an S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst is one of the keys to tackling its practical application problems. This paper reports an S-scheme AgVO₃/Ag₂S heterojunction photocatalyst constructed via a straightforward hydrothermal approach that exhibits outstanding photocatalytic degradation performances to the organic dye Rhodamine B (RhB) and antibiotic Tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) driven by visible light. The results show that AgVO₃/Ag₂S heterojunction with a molar ratio of 6:1 (V6S) possesses the highest photocatalytic performances, 99% of RhB can be almost degraded by 0.1 g/L V6S within 25 min light illumination, and about 72% of TC-HCl can be photodegraded with the act of 0.3 g/L V6S under 120 min light irradiation. Meanwhile, the AgVO₃/Ag₂S system exhibits superior stability and maintains high photocatalytic activity after 5 repeated tests. Moreover, the EPR measurement and radical capture test identify that superoxide radicals and hydroxyl radicals mainly contribute to the photodegradation process. The present work demonstrates that constructing an S-scheme heterojunction can effectively inhibit the recombination of carriers, providing insights into the fabrication of applied photocatalysts for practical wastewater purification treatment.