As a well-known material used for

photographic film, AgCl find more has shown its valuable applications as visible light photocatalysts [2–8]. AgCl is a stable photosensitive semiconductor material with a direct band gap of 5.15 eV and an indirect band gap of 3.25 eV. Although the intrinsic light response of AgCl is located in the ultraviolet region as well, once AgCl absorbs a photon, an electron-hole pair will be generated and subsequently, the photogenerated electron combines with an Ag+ ion to form an Ag atom [7]. Finally, a lot of silver atoms are formed on the surface of the AgCl, which could extend the light response of AgCl into the visible light region [1, 6, 7]. Besides, the morphology of AgCl has significant influence on its photocatalytic activity, so it is important to develop facile methods to synthesize size- and shape-controlled AgCl materials. Recently, the facile hydrothermal method is employed to synthesize variable micro-/nano-AgCl structures, including AgCl nanocubes [6], cube-like Ag@AgCl [7], and even near-spherical AgCl crystal by an ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal

method [8]. However, for AgCl microcrystals, this narrow morphology variation (simply varied from near-spherical to cubical [2–7]) inspired that more particular attention C646 research buy is deserved to pay on the novel AgCl morphologies, including the synthesis Rutecarpine methods and their generation mechanisms, even the possible morphology evolution

processes. Herein, the novel flower-like AgCl microstructures similar to PbS crystals [9] are synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process without any catalysts or templates. Also, a series of AgCl morphology evolution processes are observed. Flower-like structures are recrystallized after the dendritic crystals are fragmentized, assembled, and dissolved. The detailed mechanism of these evolution processes has been further discussed systemically. Furthermore, flower-like AgCl microstructures exhibited enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange under visible light. Methods The AgCl dendritic and flower-like structure are synthesized via hydrothermal method by reacting silver nitrate (AgNO3, 99.8%) with ethylene glycol (EG, 99%) in the presence of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP-K30, MW = 30,000). In a typical synthesis, all the solutions are under constant stirring. Firstly, a 10-ml EG solution with 0.2 g of PVP was prepared. Then using droppers, another 7 ml of EG which contained 10 mM of AgNO3 is added. Afterwards, 3 ml of undiluted hydrochloric acid (HCl, 36% ~ 38%) is added into this mixture. The mixed AgNO3/ PVP/HCl/EG solution is further stirred for several NSC 683864 ic50 minutes until it becomes uniform. This solution is then transferred into a 25-ml Teflon-lined autoclave tube and dried in the drying tunnel at 160°C for different times.