Modifying Ag3VO4 with metal-organic frameworks for enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light.

A novel composite photocatalyst Ag 3 VO 4 /ZIF-8 was prepared by a facile two-step method. It was characterized by XRD, SEM/EDS, TEM, EDX mapping, XPS, FT-IR, BET, UV–Vis DRS and PL, and its photocatalytic degradation activity of RhB was studied. The possible mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of RhB was put forward. The results illustrate that the specific surface area of a series of hybrid catalysts is larger than that of the single Ag 3 VO 4 material, and the photocatalytic efficiency of the composite catalyst is much higher than that of pure Ag 3 VO 4 and ZIF-8. Among them, the photocatalytic activity of 60%AZ composites is the highest, about 4.2 times of pure Ag 3 VO 4 and 22.8 times of bare ZIF-8 respectively. At the same time, the Ag 3 VO 4 /ZIF-8 composite photocatalyst can maintain a stable photocatalytic activity and structure after five cycles. Image 1030 • Ag 3 VO 4 /ZIF-8 nanoparticles were acted as an effective photocatalysts. • -Ag 3 VO 4 /ZIF-8 exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with two pure materials. • The mechanism of the enhanced photocatalytic performance was discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]