Construction of Structured Hydrotalcite Supported with Silver Halide and Its Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange

To increase the interaction between a catalyst and large pollutant molecules in industrial wastewater, this study employed worm-like micelles created by surfactants as soft templates for synthesizing structured hydrotalcites with high specific surface areas and diverse pore sizes. Following this, the integration of these hydrotalcites with AgBr yielded supported, structured hydrotalcites that exhibited enhanced redox properties. Characterization techniques, including XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and EDS, validated the successful incorporation of AgBr into the structured hydrotalcites. Furthermore, UV–Vis DRS and electrochemical analyses revealed that the integration with AgBr narrowed the band gap of the hydrotalcites, thereby expanding their light absorption range. At 25 °C with an initial solution pH of 5 and an adsorbent dosage of 0.5 g/L, the efficiency of methyl orange removal by the composite material reached 97.69% after 60 min of dark adsorption. EPR and reactive species-trapping experiments revealed that the high-efficiency degradation of methyl orange was primarily attributed to the combined action of highly active h+, •O2−, and 1O2 species.