Facile formation of Ag2WO4/AgX (X = Cl, Br, I) hybrid nanorods with enhanced visible-light-driven photoelectrochemical properties

In this work, we demonstrated a general strategy for the preparation of a series of uniform Ag2WO4/AgX (X = Cl, Br, I) hybrid nanorods by a facile in-situ anion exchange reaction occurring at room temperature between pregrown Ag2WO4 nanorods and different X− ions in water. Compared with Ag2WO4 nanorods, further investigation has revealed that the as-prepared hybrid nanorods possess significantly enhanced photocurrent response and photocatalytic activity in degrading methyl orange (MO) under visible-light irradiation. In particular, the Ag2WO4/AgBr hybrid nanorods exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity among the three kinds of samples. The active species tests indicate that superoxide anion radicals and photogenerated holes are responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic performance.