Facile synthesis of Ag₃VO₄/β-AgVO₃ nanowires with efficient visible-light photocatalytic activity

Ag₃VO₄/β-AgVO₃ nanocomposites were successfully fabricated by chemical precipitation and hydrothermal method. The composites displayed excellent photocatalytic activity in comparision with those of pure β-AgVO₃ and Ag₃VO₄, which may be primarily ascribed to the matched energy structures. The sample with a molar ratio of 30% Ag₃VO₄ to β-AgVO₃ showed the highest photocatalytic activity for RhB degradation, which was almost 9 and 2.4 times higher than those of pure β-AgVO₃ and Ag₃VO₄, respectively. In addition, the trapping experiments also confirmed that holes and hydroxyl radicals are the active species for RhB degradation, and the possible mechanism for enhanced photocatalytic activity was proposed.