Preparation and characterization of Ag₃PO₄/BiOI heterostructure photocatalyst with highly visible-light-induced photocatalytic properties

Highlights: • Ag₃PO₄/BiOI heterostructure photocatalysts were synthesized by simple ion exchange deposition method. • Ag₃PO₄/BiOI displayed excellent photocatalytic activities for degradation of RhB and MB under visible light. • Ag₃PO₄/BiOI displayed higher photocatalytic activity under visible light than pure BiOI and Ag₃PO₄. - Abstract: In this study, novel Ag₃PO₄/BiOI heterostructure photocatalysts were synthesized by simple ion-exchange deposition method. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). In the composites, Ag₃PO₄ particles are deposited on the surface of plates of BiOI. The photocatalytic tests display that the Ag₃PO₄/BiOI heterostructures possess a higher rate for degradation of rhodamine B(RhB), methtylene blue(MB) and methyl orange(MO) than the pure BiOI under visible light illumination. The catalytic activity of the composite is greatly influenced by the molar ratio of Ag₃PO₄/BiOI, the best visible-light photocatalytic performance was obtained for 2:1-Ag₃PO₄/BiOI for RhB and MB degradation and 1:2-Ag₃PO₄/BiOI for MO degradation. The results show that the heterostructure construction between Ag₃PO₄ and BiOI semiconductors plays a very important role in their photocatalytic properties, which has the potential application in solving environmental pollution issues utilizing solar energy effectively