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

Abstract A novel composite photocatalyst Ag3VO4/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 Ag3VO4 material, and the photocatalytic efficiency of the composite catalyst is much higher than that of pure Ag3VO4 and ZIF-8. Among them, the photocatalytic activity of 60%AZ composites is the highest, about 4.2 times of pure Ag3VO4 and 22.8 times of bare ZIF-8 respectively. At the same time, the Ag3VO4/ZIF-8 composite photocatalyst can maintain a stable photocatalytic activity and structure after five cycles.