Ag(I)-bovine serum albumin hydrosol-Mediated formation of Ag3PO4/reduced graphene oxide composites for visible-light degradation of Rhodamine B solution

•Ag(I)-BSA hydrosol was utilized to assemble Ag3PO4 nanospheres onto rGO sheets.•The porous Ag3PO4 nanospheres consisted of accumulated Ag3PO4 nanoparticles.•The Ag3PO4/rGO composite indicated superior photocatalysis activity.

A cost-effective Ag(I)-bovine serum albumin (BSA) supramolecular hydrosol strategy was utilized to assemble Ag3PO4 nanospheres onto reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. The obtained composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Compared with the pure Ag3PO4 crystals and Ag3PO4 particles prepared with Ag(I)-BSA hydrosol as precursor, the Ag3PO4/rGO composites obtained with different content of graphene oxide indicated improved visible-light-driven photocatalysis activity for the decomposition of Rhodamine B aqueous solution. The results pointed to the possibility of synthesizing graphene-based photocatalysts by metal ion-BSA hydrosol.

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