Highly Enhanced Photocatalytic Performances of Composites Consisting of Silver Phosphate and N-Doped Carbon Nanomesh for Oxytetracycline Degradation.

Photocatalytic technology based on silver phosphate (Ag ₃ PO ₄ ) has excellent potential in removing antibiotic pollutants, but the low separation rate of photogenerated hole-electron pairs restricts the application of the photocatalyst. In this study, it was found that the combination of nitrogen-doped carbon (NDC) with carbon defects and Ag ₃ PO ₄ can significantly enhance the photocatalytic ability of Ag ₃ PO ₄ . After it was exposed to visible light for 5 min, the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of oxytetracycline (OTC) by the composite photocatalyst Ag ₃ PO ₄ @NDC could reach 100%. In addition, the structure of NDC, Ag ₃ PO _4, and Ag ₃ PO ₄ @NDC was systematically characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, Raman, and EPR. The XPS results revealed intense interface interaction between Ag ₃ PO ₄ and NDC, and electrons would transfer from Ag ₃ PO ₄ to the NDC surface. A possible mechanism for enhancing the photocatalytic reaction of the Ag ₃ PO ₄ @NDC composite catalyst was proposed. This study provides a highly efficient visible light catalytic material, which can be a valuable reference for designing and developing a new highly efficient visible light catalyst.