Construction of Ba-doped AgPO/SnO type-II nanocomposites as a promising photocatalyst for boosting photocatalytic degradation of BY28 dye and redox conversion of Cr(VI)/Cr(III).

In the present study, Ba-doped AgPO/SnO 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 AgPO/SnO nanocomposite exhibited an efficient photocatalytic activity with rate constant of 0.0491 min for BY28 degradation and 0.0261 min for Cr(VI) reduction, which is 13.3 and 7.5 times higher than that of the SnO 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.