In this work, synthesis of Ag3PO4 and its composite with TiO2 (Ag3PO4/TiO2) towards study of two phenomena naturally occurring in Ag3PO4 is reported. Specifically, a visible lightdriven (i.e., photocorrosion) and chloride ion-driven transformation of Ag3PO4 to AgCl in chloride-free and chloride-present aqueous solution. A deeper insight on this transformation via study of their structural and morphological changes using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is performed. Substantial amount of AgCl is detected in both Ag3PO4 based materials after visible light irradiation in chloride-present environment. This led to increase in optical band gap of Ag3PO4 and Ag3PO4/TiO2 from 2.52 eV to 2.99 eV and 2.48 eV to 3.02 eV, respectively. Impact of these structural changes in Ag3PO4 and Ag3PO4/TiO2 on their photocatalytic activity is evaluated from the photoinduced catalytic, antibacterial, and antifungal performance under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic activity of pristine and photocorroded Ag3PO4 is increased by ~10 times compared to that of pristine and photocorroded Ag3PO4/TiO2. Photocorroded Ag3PO4 and Ag3PO4/TiO2 possess minor antibacterial and antifungal activities (cell survival ~90 %). Whereas using pristine Ag3PO4 and Ag3PO4/TiO2 the cell survival is reduced by 100 % after 60 and 120 min, respectively.
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