HYDROTHERMAL SYNTHESIS OF HETEROSTRUCTURED Ag3PO4/TiO2 PHOTOCATALYST WITH ENHANCED PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY AND STABILITY UNDER VISIBLE LIGHT

Photocatalyst Ag3PO4/TiO2 composites were synthesized by hydrothermal method, by adding 0 ml, 0.1 ml, 0.2 ml, 0.3 ml ammonia to adjust the morphology of Ag3PO4 and change the mass ratio of Ag3PO4 to TiO2 (10%, 20%, 30%. % means mass ratio of Ag3PO4 to TiO2). Ag3PO4 was recrystallized in the shape-controlled process which provides chance for TiO2 injected to the internal Ag3PO4. The obtained composites were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, EDS. This study found that the catalytic efficiencyis of 10% Ag3PO4/TiO2 (added 0.2 ml ammonia) (10%-A/T-0.2) is the best. The photocatalysts were investigated in methyl orange (MO) under visible irradiation (lambda >= 420nm). Compared to pure TiO2 and Ag3PO4 crystals, the heterostructured Ag3PO4/TiO2 composites show much higher photocatalytic activity and stability. Moreover, after three cycles of photocalytic experiment found that photodegradation rate of MO still reach 72.59% in 60 minutes, indicating that the as-prepared heterostructured Ag3PO4/TiO2 photocatalysts are stable. The enhanced and stability photocatalytic of Ag3PO4/TiO2 could mainly account of its highly heterojunction and high efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs.