Heterostructured Ag3PO4/TiO2 film with high efficiency for degradation of methyl orange under visible light

A heterostructured Ag3PO4/TiO2 film sample was synthesized using a facile method to improve the efficiency for the solar energy conversion of conventional TiO2 material and accelerate its applications. The preparation strategy of this study provides a simple way to fabricate photocatalytic film samples with relatively low cost. The microstructure and the photocatalytic properties of the as-prepared film samples were investigated in detail. The Ag3PO4/TiO2 film sample shows strong visible light absorption ability, together with high photocatalytic efficiency and activity for degradation of methyl orange. Furthermore, the inter-semiconductor hole-transfer mechanism leads to the enhanced visible-light driven activity for this kind of photocatalyst. •A heterostructured Ag3PO4/TiO2 film sample was synthesized.•Preparation strategy provides a simple way to obtain heterostructured film sample.•The heterostructured film sample shows strong visible light absorption ability.•The film sample has high photocatalytic activity for degradation of methyl orange.