A recyclable and stable BiOI/agarose hybrid gel photocatalyst for photodegradation of Rhodamine B

A novel hydrogel-based photocatalyst was prepared by synthesizing dispersively the BiOI microspheres in the agarose hydrogel (AG) matrix. The results from X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analyses demonstrated that the BiOI and AG co-exist in the prepared BiOI/AG sample. The scanning electron microscopic observation revealed that the size of BiOI microspheres is about 2 A mu m. The BiOI/AG composite photocatalyst showed an enhanced photocatalytic property in degrading Rhodamine B under simulated solar light irradiation compared to the TiO2/AG. The stability and recyclability tests confirmed that the BiOI/AG composite photocatalyst is stable during the photodegradation reaction and can be easily separated from the solution and recycled for more than seven times.