In situ synthesis of Ag₃PO₄/C₃N₅Z-scheme heterojunctions with enhanced visible-light-responsive photocatalytic...

Environmental pollution caused by antibiotics-containing wastewater has attracted increasing attention. Considering the superior photocatalytic performance and the issue of photo-corrosion over silver-based photocatalysts, it is desirable to construct silver-based photocatalysts with high photostability. Herein, a serious of Ag₃PO₄/C₃N₅ nanocomposites with Z-scheme band alignment were rationally designed and fabricated for tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) removal. A variety of characterizations were employed to systematically study the phase structure, morphology and microstructure, optical properties, surface chemical states, and photocatalytic performance of the as-fabricated photocatalysts. The as-prepared Ag₃PO₄/C₃N₅ nanocomposites exhibited superior photocatalytic activity and photochemical stability than a single component toward TCH removal, meanwhile, the photocatalytic performance was not increased with the increasing amount of Ag₃PO₄. The possible photocatalytic mechanism (Z-scheme mechanism) was investigated and verified. The Z-scheme heterojunctions formed between Ag₃PO₄ and C₃N₅ is the main reason for the enhanced photocatalytic activities.