Visible light driven Ag/Ag₃PO₄/AC photocatalyst with highly enhanced photodegradation of tetracycline antibiotics

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Ag/Ag₃PO₄/AC composite photocatalysts were successfully synthesized using the simple deposition and photoinduced methods. • The composite photocatalysts exhibited strong absorption ability in the visible light range. • The photocatalytic mechanism of degradation TC revealed that there were multiple active species in the photocatalytic reactions. - Abstract: Ag/Ag₃PO₄/active carbon (AC) composite photocatalysts were successfully synthesized using the simple deposition and photoinduced methods. The structures, morphology and photocatalytic properties of as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Ag/Ag₃PO₄/AC composite photocatalysts exhibited a conspicuously improved photocatalytic performance for tetracycline (TC) degradation. The optimal conditions of loaded dosage and photoinduced time were investigated, and the results showed that the photoinduced time played an important role in prepared processes, and also that for the loaded dosage of Ag₃PO₄. The DRS analysis showed that the composite photocatalysts exhibited strong absorption ability in the visible light range. The radicals trap experiments demonstrated that there were multiple active species during the degrading process of TC. The possible mechanism of improved photocatalytic activity of Ag–Ag₃PO₄/AC composite was also proposed.