Immobilization of Ag 3 PO 4 nanoparticles on chitosan fiber for photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange

Ag 3 PO 4 and chitosan fiber (CF) composites were successfully fabricated using an in situ growth technique. The structure and properties of the obtained Ag 3 PO 4 /CF composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy, and UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. SEM results suggested that the 50–500 nm Ag 3 PO 4 particles grew on the CF surface into a spherical or dentate shape. Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) solution was used as a typical reaction to evaluate the visible-light photocatalytic performance of the Ag 3 PO 4 /CF composites. The reaction results indicated that the Ag 3 PO 4 /CF composites-3 exhibited excellent photodegradation efficiency, with 93.8% removal of the MO solution. The effects of MO concentrations and cycling runs on the photocatalytic performance of the Ag 3 PO 4 /CF composites were evaluated as well.