Construction of p-n type Ag3PO4/CdWO4 heterojunction photocatalyst for visible-light-induced dye degradation

[Display omitted] •A novel p-n type Ag3PO4/CdWO4 heterojunction was synthesized by hydrothermal strategy.•Visible-light response range and carrier transmit status were successfully adjusted in Ag3PO4/CdWO4 heterojunction.•The electron-hole pairs from the photogenerated process accelerated to the degradation of dye pollutants. Regarding the high stability of Ag3PO4 and CdWO4, their valence band and conduction band energy levels match each other, a novel p-n type Ag3PO4/CdWO4 heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized by conventional hydrothermal strategy, and analyzed by PXRD, SEM TEM and XPS, respectively. The corresponding results suggested that the nanorods of CdWO4 were successfully intergrown on the surface of Ag3PO4. The as-synthesized Ag3PO4/CdWO4 exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance and reusability than that of two independent precursors via visible-light-induced photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). The improved photocatalytic performance may due to expanded visible-light response range and enhanced the efficiency of carrier pairs separation induced by the adjustment of band-gap in p-n type Ag3PO4/CdWO4 heterojunction. Moreover, a putative photocatalytic mechanism of such heterojunction in degradation with dye was proposed.