The enhanced photocatalytic activity of ultrasonic spray reduction of silver nanoclusters over lamellar graphite carbon nitride: Interface reaction, theoretical calculation and degradation pathway.

[Display omitted] • Ag/CN-sr was synthesized by a fantastic chemical reduction via US method. • US inhibits the reagglomeration of g-C 3 N 4 and creates a micron-scale environment. • US promotes the uniform distribution and size reduction of Ag nanoclusters (Ag-nc). • For the first time, the degradation path of RhB was analyzed at the atomic level. Noble metals loading was found to be a promising strategy to improve the photocatalytic performance of g-C 3 N 4. In this, we synthesized Ag/g-C 3 N 4 composite (Ag/CN-sr) by an improved chemical reduction via ultrasonic spray technology. This process avoided the agglomeration of g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets and created a micron-scale reaction condition, which promoted the uniform distribution and size reduction of Ag nanoclusters. The results indicated that the apparent reaction rate constant for RhB degradation was 0.0322 min−1, which was about 3 and 7 times higher than that of Ag/CN composite prepared by the conventional chemical reduction method (Ag/CN-cr) and bare g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets, respectively. Furthermore, the degradation pathway of RhB was proposed by LC-MS and Multiwfn wave function analysis. For the first time, the frontier molecular orbital (FMO) analysis, orbital-weighted dual descriptor (OW DD) analysis and Atoms-In-Molecules (AIM) topological analysis were combined to study the degradation path of RhB from the atomic point of view. The theoretical analysis results were in good agreement with the LC-MS results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]