Branching growth of novel silver phosphate dendrites and the greatly improved photocatalytic activity by the active {110} facets

Abstract

Herein, novel Ag₃PO₄ dendrites, including highly-branched tetrapods (HBTs), three-dimensional towers (TDTs), and threefold-overlapped tetrapods (TOTs), are achieved by a facile precipitation method. Surprisingly, the apparent reaction rate constants of the HBTs, TDTs and TOTs are 144.3, 87.9 and 50.4 times higher than that of N-doped TiO₂ (NT), respectively. The different activities of the Ag₃PO₄ dendrites have been mainly attributed to the exposed high-energy {110} facets. This work represents a big step toward exploring branching growth and improving photocatalytic properties.