Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity and photostability of Ag(3)PO(4)/Bi(2)WO(6) heterostructures toward organic pollutant degradation and plasmonic Z-scheme mechanism

Novel Ag(3)PO(4)/Bi(2)WO(6) heterostructured materials with enhanced visible-light catalytic performance were successfully synthesized by assembly combined with a hydrothermal treatment. The microstructures, morphologies, and optical properties of the prepared samples were characterized by multiple techniques. The irregular Ag(3)PO(4) nanospheres dispersed on the surface of Bi(2)WO(6) nanoflakes, and their catalytic performances were evaluated via the degradation of organic pollutants including rhodamine B (RB), methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), methyl orange (MO), and phenol (Phen) under visible-light irradiation. The resulting Ag(3)PO(4)/Bi(2)WO(6) heterostructured materials displayed higher photocatalytic activity than that of either pure Bi(2)WO(6) or Ag(3)PO(4). The enhanced photocatalytic activity was due to the good formation of heterostructures, which could not only broaden the spectral response range to visible light but also effectively promoted the charge separation. Meanwhile, the reasonable photoreactive plasmonic Z-scheme mechanism was carefully investigated on the basic of the reactive species scavenging tests, photoelectrochemical experiments, and photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. In addition, the excellent photostability of Ag(3)PO(4)/Bi(2)WO(6) was obtained, which Ag formed at the early photocatalytic reaction acted as the charge transmission-bridge to restrain the further photoreduction of Ag(3)PO(4).