Facile synthesis of Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 composite photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light-responded photocatalytic activities

• Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 was successfully prepared for the first time.
• Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 shows enhanced visible-light photocatalytic efficiency.
• Adoption of Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 could reduce cost of Ag3PO4 photocatalyst.

A novel Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 composite photocatalyst with well-dispersed Ag3PO4 nanoparticles on AlPO4-5 molecular sieves has been successfully synthesized via a wet impregnation route. The physicochemical properties of the obtained material were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller technique, and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Notably, Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 composite exhibits remarkable enhanced visible light photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB) compared with pure powder Ag3PO4. The rate constants of MB and RhB degradation over Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 composite are both more than 3 times of those over pure powder Ag3PO4. The utilization of AlPO4-5 molecular sieves support has high specific surface areas and facilitates even dispersion and close contact of Ag3PO4, thus eliminating the agglomeration of Ag3PO4 nanoparticles and leading to small size of Ag3PO4, which is the main reason controlling the high photocatalytic performance.

A novel Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 composite photocatalyst has been successfully synthesized via a wet impregnation route. The as-prepared Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 composite exhibits remarkable enhanced visible light photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (92.5% within 7 min) and rhodamine B (93.6% within 20 min), far exceeding those of the solid powder Ag3PO4 in methylene blue decomposition (93.0% within 25 min) and rhodamine B decomposition (90.9% within 65 min), respectively. Note that such facile synthesis of Ag3PO4/AlPO4-5 composite offers a good opportunity for the low-cost, large-scale production of highly active visible-light-driven photocatalytic materials. Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide