Boosting visible photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol and phenol efficiency by stable core@shell hybrid Ag3PO4@polypyrrole

In this paper, conjugated conductive polymer polypyrrole molecules were coated on Ag3PO4 nanoparticles by chemical adsorption method. The photocatalytic activity of Ag3PO4 @polypyrrole (Ag3PO4 @PPy) was enhanced significantly with introducing PPy. Under visible light, Ag3PO4 @PPy (1.5 wt%) degraded 100 % of phenol in 12 min and 98.39 % of 2,4-dichlorophenol in 24 min, which was 2.01 times and 1.89 times higher than pure Ag3PO4, respectively. In addition, the degradation activity of core-shell structure catalyst Ag3PO4@PPy remains 91.26 % after five cycles. The increased stability and activity of as-prepared core-shell Ag3PO4 @PPy was mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of Ag3PO4 and PPy. The high-stability PPy shell inhibits the dissolution of Ag3PO4 nanoparticles. The core-shell structure increases the contact area and a chemical bond was formed on the interface. In addition, the matched energy level structure and the outstanding charge transfer ability of PPy conjugated large pi bond accelerates the photo-generated charge separation thereby improves the photoactivity and stability of Ag3PO4.

Automated summary

In this study, conjugated conductive polymer polypyrrole (PPy) molecules were coated on Ag3PO4 nanoparticles to form a core-shell structure (Ag3PO4@PPy). Ag3PO4@PPy exhibited higher photocatalytic activity and stability under visible light compared to pure Ag3PO4. The enhanced stability and activity were attributed to the inhibitory effect of the PPy shell on Ag3PO4 dissolution, increased contact area through the core-shell structure, and the matched energy level structure and outstanding charge transfer ability of PPy that accelerated the photo-generated charge separation.