Preparation of Ag2SO3 sub-microparticles with high visible-light photocatalytic activity

A visible-light sensitive Ag2SO3 semiconductor photocatalyst with size of ca. 500 nm was prepared by a simple precipitation method. This photocatalyst exhibits high-efficiency degradation ability for typical three dyes, which can be ascribed to the efficient photosensitised electron injection and slow electron recombination. The photocatalytic reaction follows a pseudo-first-order reaction and the rate constant of Ag2SO3 for the degradation of rhodamine B is estimated to be 1.7 times that of commercial TiO2. The stability of unstable Ag2SO3 was remarkably enhanced by the addition of Na2SO3. The h(+) and center dot O-2(-) played relatively major roles during the photocatalytic reaction.