H 2 O 2 rejuvenation-mediated synthesis of stable mixed-morphology Ag 3 PO 4 photocatalysts

Ag 3 PO 4 photocatalyst has attracted interest of the scientific community in recent times due to its reported high efficiency for water oxidation and dye degradation. However, Ag 3 PO 4 photo-corrodes if electron accepter such as AgNO 3 is not used as scavenger. Synthesis of efficient Ag 3 PO 4 followed by a simple protocol for regeneration of the photocatalyst is therefore a prerequisite for practical application. Herein, we present a facile method for the synthesis of a highly efficient Ag 3 PO 4 , whose photocatalytic efficiency was demonstrated using 3 different organic dyes: Methylene Blue (MB), Methyl orange (MO) and Rhodamine B (RhB) organic dyes for degradation tests. Approximately, 19 % of Ag 3 PO 4 is converted to Ag 0 after 4.30 hours of continuous UV-Vis irradiation in presence of MB organic dye. We have shown that the Ag/Ag 3 PO 4 composite can be rejuvenated by a simple chemical oxidation step after several cycles of photocatalysis tests. At an optimal pH of 6.5, a mixture of cubic, rhombic dodecahedron, nanosphere and nanocrystals morphologies of the photocatalyst was formed. H 2 O 2 served as the chemical oxidant to re-insert the surface metallic Ag into the Ag 3 PO 4 photocatalyst but also as the agent that can control morphology of the regenerated as-prepared photocatalyst without the need for any other morphology controlling Agent (MCA). Surprisingly, the as- regenerated Ag 3 PO 4 was found to have higher photocatalytic reactivity than the freshly made material and superior at least 17 times in comparison with the conventional Degussa TiO 2 , and some of TiO 2 composites tested in this work.