Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activities of Ag3PO4/MWCNT nanocomposites fabricated by facile in situ precipitation method

The Ag3PO4/MWCNT nanocomposites were facilely fabricated via in situ precipitation method by adding (NH4)2HPO4 into the mixture of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and AgNO3 solution under stirring. The as-prepared Ag3PO4/MWCNT nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area (BET) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The TEM results showed that the Ag3PO4 nanoparticles were distributed on the surface of MWCNT uniformly with an average diameter of 70 nm, indicating excellent loading result. The photocatalytic activities of Ag3PO4/MWCNT nanocomposites were investigated by degrading methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) under visible-light irradiation. It was found that the Ag3PO4/MWCNT nanocomposite exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance with enhanced photocatalytic efficiency and good photostability compared with bare Ag3PO4. Furthermore, a possible mechanism for the photocatalytic oxidative degradation was also discussed.