Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous WO3 supported Ag3PO4 with enhanced photocatalytic activity and durability

Abstract Ag 3 PO 4 nanoparticles were firstly deposited into the three-dimensionally ordered macroporous WO 3 (3DOM-WO 3 ) with different pore sizes. The resulted Ag 3 PO 4 /3DOM-WO 3 composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and DR UV–vis. These composite photocatalysts showed extraordinarily excellent efficiencies in the visible light degradation of organic contaminants and water splitting for oxygen evolution, which were mainly due to the synergic effect of Ag 3 PO 4 and 3DOM-WO 3 as well as the periodic macroporous structure of 3DOM-WO 3 . Especially, the catalyst A5W5 with Ag 3 PO 4 :WO 3 mass ratio of 5:5 exhibited the highest catalytic activity, and complete degradation could be achieved within 4 min for phenol and three typical dyes investigated in this work. In addition, the slow photon effect in Ag 3 PO 4 /3DOM-WO 3 was demonstrated, and the pore size of 3DOM-WO 3 was found to have a significant influence on the catalytic performance. The catalyst A5W5(270) showed notably higher photocatalytic activity than A5W5(150) and A5W5 (420), which was mainly attributed to the exact overlap between the stop-band of 3DOM-WO 3 (270) and the electronic absorption band of Ag 3 PO 4 /3DOM-WO 3 composite. Moreover, these composite catalysts were very stable and could be recycled ten times without any loss in photocatalytic activity for RhB degradation. More excitingly, remarkably improved activity and durability were also obtained over Ag 3 PO 4 /3DOM-WO 3 in water splitting for oxygen evolution. According to the XPS and HRTEM characterizations of used catalyst, the enhanced durability was mainly attributed to the effective transfer of photogenerated electrons from Ag 3 PO 4 to 3DOM-WO 3 .