Facile assembling of AgI/Ag3PO4 via dissolution–precipitation mechanism and its excellent photocatalytic activity for contaminant removal

AgI/Ag3PO4 was successfully synthesized via a simple physical mixing process in the medium of water by using AgI microparticles and Ag3PO4 nanospheres as precursors on the basis of a novel dissolution–precipitation strategy. The as-prepared AgI/Ag3PO4 composite exhibited much higher activity than the pure AgI and Ag3PO4 for eliminating methyl orange under visible light (λ > 420 nm). The pseudo-first-order rate constant of methyl orange degradation over 75% AgI/Ag3PO4 was 0.056 min−1, which is 18.6 and 1.36 times higher than those over pure AgI and Ag3PO4. AgI/Ag3PO4 heterostructure interface efficiently separated the photoinduced carriers and acquired excellent photocatalytic activity and stability. It provides a facile, fast and universal tactic to construct inorganic salts semiconductor composite photocatalysts based on the novel dissolution–precipitation strategy.