Abstract
Thermal stability of Ag3PO4 crystals was explored, and the calcination treatment was used to diminish the growth defect inside the Ag3PO4 crystals and improve their photoelectric properties. The results of in situ XRD and TG-DSC patterns indicated that Ag3PO4 crystals could maintain the integrality of their crystal structure under 400 °C. Photocatalytic efficiency and life of Ag3PO4-30-400 was improved by 138 and 800 %, respectively, compared with the pure Ag3PO4 crystals. The XPS patterns of P and O elements showed that hydroxyl groups in Ag3PO4 increased after the thermal treatment, from which it could be concluded that the hydroxyl groups filled up the Ag–O bonds after absorbing the energy in the heating process to re-optimize the lattice structure and were converted into hydroxyl radicals in the photocatalytic process, which generated a higher photocatalytic efficiency and chemical stability.
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