Efficient decontamination of toxic phenol pollutant using LaCO_3OH nanowires decorated Ag_3PO_4 hierarchical composites mediated by metallic Ag

摘要

With the aim to develop an eco-friendly, efficient and stable photocatalyst, the present work reports the synthesis of Ag3PO4/LaCO3OH (AP/LC) heterojunction photocatalysts. Different weight ratios of AP/(x wt% LC) were tested to find the best composition for superior photocatalytic activity for dye pollutant degradation. AP/LC (20 wt%) revealed a superior photocatalytic activity. Hence it was selected for further analyses. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of distilled water: tetrahydrofuran (DW:TF) solvent system on the morphology as well as photocatalytic activities of AP/LC (20%) heterojunction. FESEM analysis shows that the morphology of AP/LC heterojunctions varied significantly with TF:DW ratio. Sphere-shaped like nanoparticles of LC transformed into nanowires to make intimate contact with AP polyhedras. The increase of TF with respect to DW results increase in the width of wire-like dimension of LC causes loose intimate contact within AP/LC heterojunction. The photocatalytic performance of AP/LC heterojunctions were tested against degradation of toxic phenol contaminant, and the outstanding photocatalytic activity was noticed for the AP/LC-2 photocatalyst (similar to 99% degradation in 120 min) with a rate constant, k of 1.281 x 10(-2) min(-1). The improved photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the uniform decoration of LC nanowires on the AP microstructure which leads to intimate interface within the heterojunction and effective charge separation. The recyclability of the AP/LC-2 photocatalysts was evaluated via replicated photocatalytic reaction trials. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.