Synthesis and characterization of Ag3PO4/LaCoO3 nanocomposite with superior mineralization potential for bisphenol A degradation under visible light

Abstract

Bisphenol A, an endocrine disruptor, is a kind of organic chemicals with various applications in the polymer industry that is proven to elicit endocrine disrupting effects. BPA is urgent for environmental remediation and human health, which has raised a great concern in seeking an ideal treatment method. Photocatalytic is a promising method to remove organic pollutants from water. Herein, in this study, novel visible-light-driven materials Ag3PO4/LaCoO3 with varying LaCoO3 content were prepared through the liquid deposition method for the first time, and its structures, morphologies, optical properties were detected by means of SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD, XPS, BET, UV-Vis and PL analyses. Moreover, the photocatalytic performance of Ag3PO4/LaCoO3 toward Bisphenol A (2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane, abbreviated as BPA) degradation was investigated, and the as-prepared Ag3PO4/LaCoO3 exhibited the enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability than pure Ag3PO4 under visible light illumination. When the content of LaCoO3 was 10%, the BPA was completely degraded after the irradiation for 40 min, and 77.27% of the total organic (TOC) was removed. The kinetic analysis indicated that the degradation rate constant of BPA over the Ag3PO4/LaCoO3(10%) hybrid materials was 0.0831min−1, being 44.68 times that of LaCoO3, and 3.02 times that of Ag3PO4. In addition, four main intermediate were detected during the photocatalytic degradation. To analyze the photocatalytic degradation mechanism of BPA, particular attention was paid to the identification of active species and intermediates. the free radical trapping experiments revealed that all the active species of O2−, OH and h+ participated in the degradation of BPA. Furthermore, a photodegradation mechanism of BPA was proposed through the results of GC-MS, and the photocatalytic mechanism of Ag3PO4/LaCoO3 was also discussed.