Abstract
In the present study, Ba-doped Ag(3)PO(4)/SnO(2) type-II heterojunction nanocomposites were fabricated and systemically investigated for the degradation of basic yellow 28 (BY28) dye and Cr(VI) reduction in the photocatalytic process under visible-light irradiation. XRD, XPS, FESEM, DRS, and PL analyses were performed to determine the characterization of synthesized photocatalysts. The optimal 1.5 wt% Ba-doped Ag(3)PO(4)/SnO(2) nanocomposite exhibited an efficient photocatalytic activity with rate constant of 0.0491 min(-1) for BY28 degradation and 0.0261 min(-1) for Cr(VI) reduction, which is 13.3 and 7.5 times higher than that of the SnO(2) nanorods. Such enhanced performance can arise from the one-dimensional structure, extended light absorption toward the visible region, formation of the type II heterojunction, the new defect-related energy states, and efficient charge separation. Furthermore, the photostability of the photocatalysts was studied and a plausible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.