Ag 3 PO 4 /TiO 2 heterostructures with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Heterostructured Ag 3 PO 4 /TiO 2 composites have been fabricated via an in situ precipitation method by depositing Ag 3 PO 4 nanoparticles onto the surface of TiO 2 microspheres. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the Ag 3 PO 4 /TiO 2 heterostructures for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under UV light irradiation could be attributed to the effective separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs driven by the photoinduced potential difference generated at the Ag 3 PO 4 /TiO 2 heterojunction interface. Furthermore, when 10 at% (molar percentage) of Ag 3 PO 4 is loaded onto the TiO 2 surface, the Ag 3 PO 4 /TiO 2 composites exhibit the best photocatalytic activity and the rate constant of RhB degradation is over three times that of pure TiO 2 . In addition, the mechanism for the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of Ag 3 PO 4 /TiO 2 is also investigated by comparison of their PL spectra.