The synthesis of Bi12GeO20/Ag3PO4 nanowire composite for increased photocatalytic activity and decreased electron/hole recombination

Bi12GeO20 nanowires uniformly decorated with ultrafine Ag3PO4 nanoparticles (Bi12GeO20/Ag3PO4) were syn-thesized. The Bi12GeO20/Ag3PO4 nanowire composite with 10 wt% of Ag3PO4 exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic performance and excellent stability over pure Bi12GeO20, Ag3PO4 and other composites, with the RhB dye decomposition efficiency reaching 94.2%. The electrochemical and photocurrent response measurements suggested that the electrons generated in Bi12GeO20 during the photocatalytic reaction could be quickly transferred to the Ag3PO4 surface, resulting in increased electron/hole separation. The trapping experiments with different scavengers and ESR results revealed that holes and center dot O-2 were the dominant active species for the photocatalytic decomposition of RhB, and the presence of Ag3PO4 was beneficial to generate more center dot O-2 species and enlarge the active surface area, leading to significantly improved photocatalytic performance. The presented photocatalyst heterostructure composed of appropriate semiconductor nanoparticles and one-dimensional nanowires in this study could be extended to the construction of other photocatalysts for a wide variety of photocatalytic applications.

Automated summary

In this study, Bi12GeO20/Ag3PO4 nanowire composite exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic performance and stability, with a RhB dye decomposition efficiency reaching 94.2%. The presence of Ag3PO4 was found to enhance the generation of active species and increase the active surface area, leading to the improved photocatalytic performance.