Semiconducting Properties of Ag3PO4 and Its Application to Rhodamine Degradation under Solar Light
- Authors: Bozetine I.1, Saib F.2, Dib K.2, Trari M.2, Bellal B.2
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Affiliations:
- Semiconductors Technology Research Centre for Energetics
- Laboratory of Storage and Valorization of Renewable Energies, Faculty of Chemistry (USTHB)
- Issue: Vol 92, No 13 (2018)
- Pages: 2726-2732
- Section: Structure of Matter and Quantum Chemistry
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/0036-0244/article/view/170290
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0036024418130058
- ID: 170290
Cite item
Abstract
To assess its photocatalytic activity under visible light, Ag3PO4 nanopowder was prepared by precipitation of Ag3PO4 with Na2HPO4. The powder was identified by X-ray diffraction and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Ag3PO4 grains with sizes in the range (0.8–10 µm) were obtained. The optical gap, determined from the Kubelka–Munk function, is found to be 2.49 eV and the electrical conductivity is characteristic of a classical semiconductor with activation energy of 0.18 eV. The capacitance measurement indicates n type conductivity with a valence band (2.05), deriving from Ag+: 5s orbital, more anodic than the level O2/\({\text{O}}_{2}^{ \bullet }\). So, the compound was tested with success for the oxidation by \({\text{O}}_{2}^{ \bullet }\) radicals of the rhodamine B under solar light. The degradation obeys to a first order kinetic with a rate constant of 0.28 min−1. Some peaks of Ag metal (~6%) appeared after the photocatalytic process and the optical gap shows red shift by 0.04 eV; such results are in contradiction with those reported by others.
About the authors
I. Bozetine
Semiconductors Technology Research Centre for Energetics
Email: mtrari@usthb.dz
Algeria, BP 140 Alger-7, Merveilles, Algiers
F. Saib
Laboratory of Storage and Valorization of Renewable Energies, Faculty of Chemistry (USTHB)
Email: mtrari@usthb.dz
Algeria, BP 32, El Alia, Algiers, 16111
K. Dib
Laboratory of Storage and Valorization of Renewable Energies, Faculty of Chemistry (USTHB)
Email: mtrari@usthb.dz
Algeria, BP 32, El Alia, Algiers, 16111
M. Trari
Laboratory of Storage and Valorization of Renewable Energies, Faculty of Chemistry (USTHB)
Author for correspondence.
Email: mtrari@usthb.dz
Algeria, BP 32, El Alia, Algiers, 16111
B. Bellal
Laboratory of Storage and Valorization of Renewable Energies, Faculty of Chemistry (USTHB)
Email: mtrari@usthb.dz
Algeria, BP 32, El Alia, Algiers, 16111