Fabrication of Ag/Ag3PO4/WO3 ternary nanoparticles as superior photocatalyst for phenol degradation under visible light irradiation

A novel Ag/Ag3PO4/WO3 composite was successfully prepared by a union of deposition-precipitation and photoreduction method. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, UV-vis, PL, XPS and EIS. The photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared composite materials has been evaluated by the degradation of phenol under visible light irradiation.. About 98% phenol can be degraded within 150 min under visible light irritation, which was much higher than that of Ag3PO4/WO3 (80%), Ag/Ag3PO4 (55%), Ag3PO4 (50%), Ag/WO3(18%) and WO3(10%) in the same condition. The enhanced photocatlytic performance could be mainly attributed to the efficient electron transfer efficiency and photo-generated electron-hole pairs separation ability through the synergistic ability of Ag3PO4 and WO3 and the bridge of Ag nanoparticles. Moreover, quenching experiments show that h(+) and H2O2 are the two main active factors in the photocatalytic degradation process. Finally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism of the Ag/Ag3PO4/WO3 for the charge transfer process is proposed.