The highly active saddle-like Ag3PO4 photocatalyst under visible light irradiation

• The morphology of Ag3PO4 could be controlled by ethanol aqueous solution.
• Saddle-like Ag3PO4 morphology could be synthesized in ethanol aqueous solution.
• Saddle-like Ag3PO4 derived from tetrahedron enhanced the photocatalytic activity.

Saddle-like Ag3PO4 particles of tetrahedron structure were successfully synthesized using a co-precipitation method by mixing H3PO4 ethanol solution and AgNO3 ethanol aqueous solution, where the percentage of ethanol in AgNO3 ethanol aqueous solution was varied at 0, 50, 80, 90 and 100% (v/v). The photocatalytic performance of the synthesized samples was evaluated by photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under blue light irradiation (λ = 455 nm). The results showed that the morphology of the Ag3PO4 particles greatly changed depending on the ethanol content in the reaction solution. Excellent photocatalytic activity was observed at 80% (v/v) of ethanol, where the Ag3PO4 showed saddle-like morphology derived from the tetrahedron structure.

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