Construction of Ag3PO4/BiNbO4 heterojunction photocatalysts with high activity for Rhodamine B removal under simulated sunlight irradiation

• Published in: Ceramics international 2019-12, Vol.45 (18), p.24260-24268
• Main Authors: Li, Nan, Miao, Shengchao, Zheng, Xiaoni, Lai, Jiahao, Lv, Siying, Gu, Xinyue, Zhang, Meixing, Yang, Jing, Cui, Shihai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ag3PO4/BiNbO4; Degradation; Heterojunction; Mechanism; Photocatalyst
• ISSN: 0272-8842; 1873-3956
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2019.08.138

A novel nanocomposite Ag3PO4/BiNbO4 has been synthesized by a co-precipitation method under mild condition. The properties of the materials such as the crystallinity, the morphology, the light absorption range and photocurrent response intensity have been examined by various instruments. Compared with Ag3PO4 or BiNbO4 nanomaterials, the as-synthesized Ag3PO4/BiNbO4 photocatalysts exhibit excellent photocatalytic performances for photodegradation of Rhodamine B. Effects of different conditions on photocatalytic degradation have been considered, including doping ratio, pollutant concentration and pH. When the content of BiNbO4 is 10%, the Ag3PO4/BiNbO4 nanocomposite shows the satisfied effect. The 98.8% RhB (20 mg/L) can be removed within 30 min in pH 6 under simulated sunlight irradiation. The degradation rate constant is 0.1459 min−1, around 3.63 and 31.02 times than that by Ag3PO4 and BiNbO4, respectively. It is on account of the fact that the heterojunction formed by Ag3PO4 and BiNbO4 promotes the electron-hole separation and improves photocatalytic ability. The possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism was discussed based on the active species, band structures as well as reaction processes.