Visible light activation of superhydrophobic BiOBr/Ag loaded copper mesh for degradation and their use in oil/water separation

Abstract Synthetic composites with exceptional wettability have been widely used for oil/water separation. However, a common limitation is that water soluble pollutants, such as dyes from textile mills and residual drugs from pharmaceutical factories, are not efficiently separated and remain in water phase. In this research, we fabricated a superhydrophobic BiOBr/Ag copper mesh composite. The design offers the following advantages. Firstly, it achieves high oil/water separation efficiency (99.5%), and it has the capability to remove water soluble pollutants under visible light (λ > 420 nm). Secondly, the material's design is holistic which simplifies the recovery process and maintains the degradation efficiency at 94% after 12 cycles of repeated use. The main active species under visible light and overall degradation mechanism were determined via trapping experiment of the active species and analysis of the valence and conduction band of the material, respectively. Finally, a sample with a size of 12 cm  ×  12 cm was prepared by amplifying the formula.