Ag2O/Ag3VO4/Ag4V2O7 heterogeneous photocatalyst prepared by a facile hydrothermal synthesis with enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation

Abstract A novel Ag 2 O/Ag 3 VO 4 /Ag 4 V 2 O 7 photocatalyst was synthesized by adjusting the molar ratio of silver–vanadium (Ag–V) in a facile hydrothermal method to obtain multi-phase Ag 2 O/Ag 3 VO 4 /Ag 4 V 2 O 7 photocatalyst. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared samples was quantified by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) model organic pollutant under visible light irradiation. Compared to pure Ag 3 VO 4 , Ag 4 V 2 O 7 and P25 TiO 2 , respectively, the as-synthesized multi-phase Ag 2 O/Ag 3 VO 4 /Ag 4 V 2 O 7 powders gave rise to a significantly higher photocatalytic activity, achieving up to 99% degradation of RhB in 2 h under visible light. This enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the effect of the multi-phase Ag 2 O/Ag 3 VO 4 /Ag 4 V 2 O 7 photocatalyst and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the incorporated metallic silver (Ag 0 ) nanoparticles (NPs) generated during the photocatalysis, as evidenced by post-use characterization, resulting in improved visible light absorption and electron-hole (e − -h + ) separation. A mechanism was proposed for the photocatalytic degradation of RhB on the surface of Ag 2 O/Ag 3 VO 4 /Ag 4 V 2 O 7 .