(1. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China) (2. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China)
Copper hydroxyphosphate (Cu2(OH)PO4) has drawn extensive attention as an efficient visible-light-driven (VLD) photocatalyst in recent years. To further improve its photoabsorption range and photogenerated electron-hole separation efficiency, we designed and prepared Cu2(OH)PO4-CdS heterojunctions. The walnut-like Cu2(OH)PO4 with a width of ~4 μm and length of ~6 μm was synthesized by hydrothermal method at first, and then CdS nanoparticles with diameter of 25 nm were grown on the surface of Cu2(OH)PO4 by ultrasonic method. The photocatalytic activity of Cu2(OH)PO4-CdS heterojunctions were measured by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and tetracycline (TC) solution under visible-light irradiation (λ>400 nm). The results indicated that Cu2(OH)PO4-CdS heterojunctions could degrade 82% MB or 78% TC in 100 minutes under visible-light irradiation, which is more efficient than those individual component (Cu2(OH)PO4 or CdS). In addition, the recycling experiment demonstrated that the heterojunctions remained good photocatalytic stability. Therefore, Cu2(OH)PO4-CdS was expected to be a stable and efficient VLD photocatalyst for the purification of wastewater.