Reduced Graphene Oxide-Doped Ag3PO4 Nanostructure as a High Efficiency Photocatalyst Under Visible Light

• Published in: Journal of inorganic and organometallic polymers and materials Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 543 - 553
• Main Authors: Zhang, Rui, Zhang, Tongqing, Cai, Youfeng, Zhu, Xuyang, Han, Qiong, Li, Yu, Liu, Yi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aqueous solutions; Catalytic activity; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composite materials; Electron microscopy; Fourier transforms; Graphene; Infrared spectra; Infrared spectroscopy; Inorganic Chemistry; Methylene blue; Microscopy; Organic Chemistry; Original Paper; Phosphates; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Photodegradation; Photoelectrons; Photosensitivity; Polymer Sciences; Raman spectra; Rhodamine; Silver compounds; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; RhB and MB degradation; Visible light; PDA/r-GO nanocomposite; Stability; Ag; PO
• ISSN: 1574-1443; 1574-1451
• DOI: 10.1007/s10904-019-01214-z

A novel photocatalyst Ag 3 PO 4 /PDA (Polydopamine)/r-GO (reduced-graphene oxide) has been successfully prepared by a solvent hydrothermal method. The composite photocatalytic material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) and X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). Ag 3 PO 4 /PDA/r-GO showed a significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity in the degradation experiment of MB and RhB aqueous solution compared with pure Ag 3 PO 4 . The degradation rates of MB (Methylene blue) and RhB (Rhodamine B) aqueous solution were 96.8% and 92% in the examination with 15 min under visible light, respectively. At the same time the stability of composite material was higher than pure Ag 3 PO 4 . The improvement in photocatalytic performance is attributed to the larger specific surface area, higher absorption capability for visible-light, and most important, the r-GO could act as a charge bridge to accelerate the transfer of electron. This work is expected to provide a promising approach for improving the photocatalytic performance and further utilization of photosensitive semiconductors.