Assembly of Ag3PO4 nanocrystals on graphene-based nanosheets with enhanced photocatalytic performance

A facile fabrication of graphene oxide (GO)-Ag3PO4 nanocomposites has been achieved through a two-phase self-assembly process. The well anchoring of Ag3PO4 nanocrystals (NCs) on the GO nanosheets was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), and Raman spectra. The significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity of the composites in comparison with bare Ag3PO4 NCs was revealed by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation, which can be attributed to the improved separation of electron-hole pairs and the high adsorption performance due to the presence of GO. The GO-Ag3PO4 can also be further photo-reduced into reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-Ag3PO4 nanocomposite without the formation of metal Ag. The RGO-Ag3PO4 nanocomposite exhibited higher photocatalytic activity and stability than bare Ag3PO4 NCs with the reason that the RGO nanosheets with high conductivity can effectively decrease the Ag formation during the cycling processes. This method developed here could be extended to design other high-performance graphene-based photocatalysts for environment and energy applications.