Phosphate-assisted one-pot synthesis of silver phosphate–mesoporous silica composite from sodium silicate and silver nitrate

• Silver phosphate–mesoporous silica composite was synthesized by a one-pot method.
• The method is efficient and reproducible for the improvement of the photocatalysis.
• The photocatalytic activity is higher than pure silver phosphate.

A facile one-pot method for silver phosphate–mesoporous silica composite was reported. In the synthesis procedure, sodium silicate was firstly added dropwise to acidic Pluronic P123 and silver nitrate aqueous solution, followed by addition of phosphate to adjust the pH to near-neutral. Through the salting-out and flocculation effect of phosphate, tiny silver phosphate particles and silicate oligomers were formed and mixed together to build the composite material. It was a new type of mesoporous silica composite which had a structure similar to SBA-15. And it was found to have higher photocatalytic activity than pure silver phosphate in the degradation of methyl orange under ultraviolet light irradiation.

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