An AgP-CuP heterostructure, composed of silver phosphate (Ag3PO4) and copper
phosphate (Cu3(PO4)2), was synthesized using the cooprecipitation method and used in
the photodegradation of the antibiotic levofloxacin (LEV) under visible light irradiation.
A confirmação da formação da heteroestrutura foi obtida através de análise de DRX,
refinamento de Rietveld e espectroscopia FTIR. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
images revealed the morphology of the materials, confirming the formation of the
heterostructure. The energy bandgap (EBG) results demonstrated that Ag3PO4 has an EBG
of approximately 2.21 eV, while Cu3(PO4)2 has an EBG of approximately 2.91 eV. For the
heterostructures, an EBG of approximately 2.43 eV was observed for AgP-CuP5% and 2.63
eV for AgP-CuP10%. The photodegradation efficiency of LEV (10 mg L-1) reached
74.36% for AgP-CuP5% and 80.46% for AgP-CuP10% at a pH of 6.8 after 150 minutes of
exposure. Both materials demonstrated stability over three catalytic cycles while
maintaining significant photodegradation rates.