The synthesis of Ag3PO4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites and the application in the photocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A under visible light irradiation

The high-efficient photocatalytic material Ag3PO4/g-C3N4 was synthesized through calcination and precipitation methods. The physico-chemical properties of the material were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultravioletevisible (UV-Vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) photoluminescence spectra (PL) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area test. The morphology analysis indicated that Ag3PO4 particles were heterogeneously dispersed on the surface of layered g-C3N4. The Ag3PO4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites were applied in the photodegradation of bisphenol A under the visible light irradiation. The effects of the material proportion, the initial concentration of BPA, and the salinity on the degradation were discussed. The results showed that 92.8% bisphenol A (10mg/L) can be photodegraded under 3 h irradiation by Ag3PO4/g-C3N4 with 25% Ag3PO4 mass ratio. The photodegradation kinetics and possible photocatalytic mechanism were discussed. The active specie center dot O-(2) over bar was found to play a key role during the photocatalytic reaction. The reaction mechanism was described based on valence band, conduction band energy levels and reduction potentials of oxygen and hydroxyl radicals. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.