The effect of synthesis temperature on the morphologies and visible light photocatalytic performance of Ag3PO4

In this study, the Ag3PO4 microcrystal was successfully prepared at different temperatures using precipitation and hydrothermal methods. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV vis DRS) and so on. It was found that the synthesized temperature had some effects on the morphologies and photocurrent of Ag3PO4. As the synthesized temperature increased from 20 degrees C to 120 degrees C, the ratio of exposed (110) facets increased, which are the active photocatalysis facets in Ag3PO4 crystals, along with a higher photocatalytic efficiency over RhB under visible light irradiation. And the Ag3PO4 microcrystals synthesized at 120 degrees C exhibited the highest photocatalytic activities with the degradation ratio of RhB rising up to 97.83% in 6 min due to the high separation efficiency of electron and hole pairs. In addition, the main active species and their roles were investigated by adding scavengers (isopropyl alcohol and EDTA) during the photocatalytic degradation of RhB and a possible mechanism was discussed. (C) 2015 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.