Heterostructured Ag3PO4/TiO2 nano-sheet film with high efficiency for photodegradation of methylene blue

Heterostructured Ag3PO4/TiO2 nano-sheet film (Ag3PO4/TiO2 NSF) was fabricated by depositing Ag3PO4 particles on the surface of TiO2 NSF through an impregnating-deposition method under room conditions. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), UV-vis absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light and UV light irradiation was investigated over Ag3PO4/TiO2 NSFs with different Ag3PO4 concentrations. Ag3PO4/TiO2 NSF showed obviously superior photocatalytic degradation of MB due to the heterostructure of the catalyst which could improve the visible light absorption ability and the separation of photoexcited electron-hole pairs. The rate constant of MB degradation over the optimal sample (0.03 M Ag3PO4/TiO2 NSF) was much faster than that of pure TiO2 NSF by a factor of 22.00 and 8.45 under visible-light and UV light irradiation respectively.