Interesting Ag3PO4 concave rhombic dodecahedra: the same face with different morphologies and photocatalytic properties

Abstract

Herein, a novel and interesting Ag₃PO₄ crystal with concave rhombic dodecahedra morphology (Ag₃PO₄ CRD) via facile wet chemical method is presented. Compared to Ag₃PO₄ with rhombic dodecahedra structure (Ag₃PO₄ RD), the Ag₃PO₄ CRD was also enclosed by {110} facets but with different geometrical shapes, formed through carving out four parallelepipeds at special junctions. The photocatalytic activity of Ag₃PO₄ CRD dramatically decreased, this was attributed to the concave nature inducing easier recombination of photogenerated holes and electrons and the reaction with organic molecules being more difficult due to space limitation and the shadow effect. The results indicated that the geometrical distribution of crystal facets could play an important role in determining photocatalytic properties.