Highly efficient heterojunction photocatalyst based on nanoporous g-C3N4 sheets modified by Ag3PO4 nanoparticles: Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity

Novel visible-light-driven heterojunction photocatalyst composed by Ag3PO4 nanoparticles and nanoporous graphitic carbon nitride sheets (Ag3PO4/p-g-C3N4) was synthesized by a facile and green method. The results showed that photocatalytic activity of Ag3PO4/p-g-C3N4 was much higher than that of pure p-g-C3N4 in the photodegradation of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. The kinetic constant of Rhodamine B degradation over Ag3PO4 (33.3 mol%)/p-g-C3N4 was about 5 and 2 times higher than that over pure p-g-C3N4 and Ag3PO4, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic performance is attributed to the stronger visible light absorption and the heterojunction between Ag3PO4 nanoparticles and p-g-C3N4, which could induce the low recombination rate of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.