Enhanced photoactivity on Ag/Ag3PO4 composites by plasmonic effect

The work presented here deals with the photoreduction in metallic silver nanoparticles onto the surface of Ag(3)PO(4) and resulting photocatalytic activity enhancement toward degradation of dye molecules, namely Rhodamine B (Rh. B) as a model compound, from aqueous solution under UV or visible light irradiation. Our results clearly indicated that the photoactivity of Ag(3)PO(4) was significantly enhanced by depositing an optimum amount of silver nanoparticles, even though the adsorption kinetics rate and capacity decreased after the silver nanoparticles agglomerate extensively. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) excited between the silver nanoparticles and Rh. B interface is a physical origin and responsible for the boosted photoactivity, which strongly depends on the specific wavelength of the incident light. This work provides and suggests a novel scheme for Ag/Ag(3)PO(4) composites having plasmonic effect on the interface with detailed experimental and theoretical study.