Silver phosphate or silver orthophosphate is a light sensitive, yellow, water-insoluble chemical compound composed of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

ions of formula Ag₃PO₄.

Synthesis, reactions and properties

Silver phosphate is formed as a yellow solid precipitate by the reaction between a soluble silver salt, such as

silver nitrate Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar causti ...

, with a soluble

orthophosphate A phosphoric acid, in the general sense, is a phosphorus oxoacid in which each phosphorus (P) atom is in the oxidation state +5, and is bonded to four oxygen (O) atoms, one of them through a double bond, arranged as the corners of a tetrahedron. ...

. Its solubility product is 8.89×10⁻¹⁷ mol⁴·dm⁻². The precipitation reaction is analytically significant and can be used in qualitative or quantitative and quantitative analysis. This compound dissolves in aqueous

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous ...

. Large crystals of silver phosphate form upon gradual evaporation of such ammoniacal solutions. Its structure has been confirmed by

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...

Uses

The precipitation of silver phosphate is useful in traditional

analytical chemistry Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...

. Precipitation of silver phosphate is also used in

silver stain In pathology, silver staining is the use of silver to selectively alter the appearance of a target in microscopy of histological sections; in temperature gradient gel electrophoresis; and in polyacrylamide gels. In traditional stained glass, silv ...

ing of biological materials (after reduction to silver metal) - as a magnifying agent for phosphate. Silver phosphate also found use in early photography as a light sensitive agent. Silver phosphate exhibits antibacterial properties.

Research

Silver phosphate is a high (90%)

quantum yield The quantum yield (Φ) of a radiation-induced process is the number of times a specific event occurs per photon absorbed by the system. Applications Fluorescence spectroscopy The fluorescence quantum yield is defined as the ratio of the numb ...

photocatalyst In chemistry, photocatalysis is the acceleration of a photoreaction in the presence of a catalyst. In catalyzed photolysis, light is absorbed by an adsorbed substrate. In photogenerated catalysis, the photocatalytic activity depends on the abil ...

for the visible light photochemical splitting of water and for production of activated oxygen by the same method.

Other silver phosphates

''Silver pyrophosphate'' Ag₄P₂O₇ (CAS No. 13465-97-9) can be prepared as a white precipitate from reaction of silver(I) and

pyrophosphate In chemistry, pyrophosphates are phosphorus oxyanions that contain two phosphorus atoms in a P–O–P linkage. A number of pyrophosphate salts exist, such as disodium pyrophosphate (Na2H2P2O7) and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (Na4P2O7), among othe ...

ions. Like silver orthophosphate it is light sensitive. Silver orthophosphate turns red on exposure to light. It has a density of 5.306 g/cm³ and a melting point of 585 °C.Bulletin of the National Research Council, National Research Council (U.S.A), 1950, pp.56-5
google books link
/ref> A hydrate also exists which decomposes at 110 °C. ''Silver metaphosphate'' (AgPO₃) (CAS No. 13465-96-8)
''www.chemicalbook.com'' is a white solid with a density of 6.370 g/cm³ and a melting point of 482 °C. A hydrate also exists which decomposes at 240 °C.

References

{{silver compounds Silver compounds Phosphates