Preparation of novel tetrahedral Ag3PO4 crystals and the sunlight-responsive photocatalytic properties using graphene oxide as the template.

We report on a novel yet facile approach to the mass production of photocatalytic Ag 3 PO 4 particles by using graphene oxide (GO) sheets as templates. GO was first stabilized with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), a poly-cationic electrolyte, Ag 3 PO 4 crystals of submicro-size were then synthesized over the GO sheets by using Ag(NH 3 ) 2 + and H 2 PO 4 − as the starting materials via precipitation reactions. After a desirable UV irradiation treatment, Ag 3 PO 4 was partially reduced to Ag 0 and GO to graphene; tetrahedral crystals consisted of Ag, Ag 3 PO 4 and graphene were obtained. The Ag/Ag 3 PO 4 /graphene combinational nanostructures are highly transparent and moreover, showing high visible-light-driven photocatalytic activities. Photodegradation studies with acridine orange (AO) as the targeted chemicals gave better results than TiO 2 (P25), WO 3 , and the sole Ag/Ag 3 PO 4 , demonstrating the high applicability of the Ag/Ag 3 PO 4 /graphene combinational photocatalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]