Cryogenic ball milling synthesis of Ag3PO4/h-BN nanoparticles with increased performance for photocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract Ag 3 PO 4 /h-BN composites were synthesized by ball milling at cryogenic temperature (77 K). The crystal structures of both Ag 3 PO 4 and h-BN were confirmed by TEM, and XRD. The surface chemical states of the composites were determined by XPS. The photocatalytic performance of Ag 3 PO 4 /h-BN composites was investigated in oxygen evolution reaction. The results showed that the presence of h-BN could increase the photocatalytic performance of Ag 3 PO 4 . However, an excessive amount of h-BN in Ag 3 PO 4 /h-BN resulted in decreased photocatalytic performance, possibly due to the reduced number of active sites. Moreover, the photocatalytic performance of room temperature and cryogenic ball milled Ag 3 PO 4 /h-BN composites was compared. Finally, both the stability and mechanism of the enhanced photocatalytic performance in Ag 3 PO 4 /h-BN composite were investigated.