A novel approach for the synthesis of nanostructured Ag3PO4 from phosphate rock: high catalytic and antibacterial activities

Background: Silver orthophosphate (Ag3PO4) has received enormous attention over the past few years for its higher visible light photocatalytic performance as well as for various organic pollutants degradation in aqueous media. Therefore, considerable efforts have been made to the synthesis of Ag3PO4 with high catalytic efficiency, long lifetime, and using low-cost inorganic precursors. Results: This article describes our efforts to develop a novel approach to synthesize of nanostructured silver phosphate (Ag3PO4) using phosphate rock as alternative and natural source of PO43- precursor ions. The catalytic experimental studies showed that the nanostructured Ag3PO4 exhibited excellent catalytic activity for reduction of p-nitrophenol in the presence of NaBH4 at room temperature. Furthermore, the antibacterial studies revealed that the obtained Ag3PO4 possess significant effect against E. Coli and S. Aureus bacteria. Conclusion: The obtained results make the nanostructured Ag3PO4 prepared from natural phosphate as a highly promising candidate to be used as efficient catalyst and antibacterial agent.