One-pot pyridine-assisted synthesis of visible-light-driven photocatalyst Ag/Ag3PO4

A highly efficient and stable Ag/Ag3PO4 photocatalyst was prepared by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method assisted by pyridine. Pyridine played two important roles in the synthesis: it could work as a coordination agent role of Ag+ and act as reductant for reduce partial Ag+ to metallic Ag. The influences of pyridine amount, reaction temperature and pH value on the content of Ag in the composite were investigated. The diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) indicated that the Ag/Ag3PO4 had strong absorption in UV and visible light regions. The photocatalytic activity of the composite was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO) and phenol under visible light irradiation. The experimental results indicated that the Ag/Ag3PO4 showed highly efficient and stable photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. It was considered that the excellent performance resulted from the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles and a large negative charge of PO43− ion.

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► One-pot pyridine-assisted hydrothermal method to prepare Ag/Ag3PO4 photocatalyst.
► Pyridine plays a coordination agent and a reductant for Ag+ ions.
► The composite is efficient and stable for methyl orange and phenol photodegradation.