Structure, morphology and photocatalytic activity of attapulgite/Ag3PO4 hybrids synthesized by a facile chemical precipitation route

Abstract

Attapulgite (ATP)/Ag3PO4 hybrids have been synthesized via a facile chemical precipitation route, and we also examined the effect of precursor phosphate types on the structure, morphology and photocatalytic property of the obtained products. It was found that the ATP surfaces were uniformly coated by ultrathin Ag3PO4 nanoparticles (NPs) with sizes of 5–20 nm, while the as-synthesized hybrids exhibited the higher photocatalytic activities for methyl orange degradation than the single Ag3PO4 crystals although the amount of active species were decreased a lot. The behavior was thus attributed to both the smaller particle sizes and the larger surface. In addition, it was also observed that the photocatalytic activities of those hybrids were dependent on the types of phosphate salts. In details, a few impurities were found in the samples synthesized via Na3PO4, while the ones synthesized using two other phosphates (Na2HPO4, NaH2PO4) exhibited the higher photocatalytic activities and stabilities due to the higher loading amount, smaller size and more uniform coating of Ag3PO4 NPs. This work presents a new approach for expanding the possibilities for developing low cost and visible-light responsive photocatalysts.