Silicate silver/flower-like magnalium hydroxide composites for enhanced visible light photodegradation activities

Flower-like magnalium layered composites (MgAl-LDH) were first fabricated by a hydrothermal method, and a series of AgSiO(x)/MgAl-LDH composites with different mole ratios was successfully prepared by loading AgSiO(x) on the MgAl-LDH surface. The photocatalytic activities of the composites for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) were investigated under visible light irradiation (xenon lamp). The prepared AgSiO(x)/MgAl-LDH composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TG), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results revealed that AgSiO(x)/MgAl-LDH (5 : 1) displayed a photocatalytic degradation efficiency of 99.7% in 30 min for MB. The photocatalytic degradation rate was higher than that of pure AgSiO(x).