Fabrication of novel Ag3PO4/BiOBr heterojunction with high stability and enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

•Ag3PO4/BiOBr hybrids with exceptionally high visible light photocatalytic activity were synthesized through simple co-precipitation method.•The enhanced activity of Ag3PO4/BiOBr hybrids was attributed to the efficient charge separation and increased surface area.•The as synthesized Ag3PO4/BiOBr hybrids displayed high stability.•The high stability of Ag3PO4/BiOBr hybrids was attributed to the fast transfer of electrons from conduction band of Ag3PO4 to the conduction band of BiOBr. Herein, we report a facile and effective method to enhance the photocatalytic activity of bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) semiconductor through the fabrication of heterojunction with Ag3PO4. The as synthesized Ag3PO4/BiOBr microspheres were characterized with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X–ray diffraction (XRD) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The new Ag3PO4/BiOBr heterojunctions exhibited wide absorption in the visible-light region and compared to pure BiOBr and Ag3PO4 samples displayed exceptionally high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of typical organic pollutants such as Rhodamine B (RhB) and phenol. The optimal Ag/Bi weight ratio in Ag3PO4/BiOBr microsphere (AB7) was found to be 0.7. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was related to the efficient separation of electron–hole pairs derived from matching band potentials between BiOBr and Ag3PO4 which results into the generation of natural energy bias at heterojunction and subsequent transfer of photoinduced charge carriers. Moreover, the synthesized samples exhibited almost no loss of activity even after 6 recycling runs indicating their high photocatalytic stability. Considering the facile and environment friendly route for the synthesis of Ag3PO4/BiOBr hybrids with enhanced visible-light induced photocatalytic activity, it is possible to widely apply these hybrids in various fields such as waste water treatment.