Facial synthesis of a novel Ag4V2O7/g‐C3N4 heterostructure with highly efficient photoactivity

Abstract A novel Ag 4 V 2 O 7 /g‐C 3 N 4 heterostructure was synthesized by a facial etching method in ammonia solution using Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 /g‐C 3 N 4 as a self‐sacrifice precursor. With the concentration of ammonia solution increasing from 0.05 to 0.2 M, phase transformation took place, described as: Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 /g‐C 3 N 4 → Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 /Ag 4 V 2 O 7 /g‐C 3 N 4 → Ag 4 V 2 O 7 /g‐C 3 N 4 . Compared with pristine Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 /g‐C 3 N 4 , the etched samples of Ag 4 V 2 O 7 /g‐C 3 N 4 and Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 /Ag 4 V 2 O 7 /g‐C 3 N 4 exhibited dramatically improved activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO) and imidacloprid under visible light irradiation. When etched with 0.15 M ammonia solution, an Ag 4 V 2 O 7 /g‐C 3 N 4 heterostructure was obtained that exhibited the highest photoactivity. This photocatalyst was nearly 9.1, 3.0, and 24.3 times more efficient than pristine Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 /g‐C 3 N 4 for degradation of MB, MO and imidacloprid, respectively. The excellent photocatalytic performance can be ascribed to the as‐obtained well‐defined Ag 4 V 2 O 7 /g‐C 3 N 4 heterojunction, which improves the separation and transfer efficiency and prolongs the lifetime of photoinduced charges. In addition, the stability and dominant radicals were investigated.