Integration of Ag2WO4 and AgBr with TiO2 to fabricate ternary nanocomposites: Novel plasmonic photocatalysts with remarkable activity under visible light. (March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Feizpoor, Solmaz; Habibi-Yangjeh, Aziz
• Is Part Of: Materials research bulletin. Volume 99(2018)
• Page Start: 93
• Page End: 102
• Publication Date: 2018-03
• Subjects: TiO2/Ag2WO4/AgBr -- TiO2/Ag2WO4 -- Heterojunction -- Visible-light-driven; Materials -- Periodicals; Crystal growth -- Periodicals; Matériaux -- Périodiques; Cristaux -- Croissance -- Périodiques; Crystal growth; Materials; Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.materresbull.2017.10.028
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0025-5408

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Novel TiO2 /Ag2 WO4 /AgBr nanocomposites as efficient photocatalysts are reported. The TiO2 /Ag2 WO4 /AgBr (15%) nanocomposite exhibited the highest activity. Activity was 50.6-folds greater than TiO2 in RhB degradation under visible light. The enhanced activity was attributed to n-n heterojunctions and plasmonic effect. Abstract: Novel and highly efficient visible-light-driven TiO2 /Ag2 WO4 /AgBr plasmonic photocatalysts were fabricated by a simple one-pot strategy and they were characterized using XRD, EDX, FESEM, TEM, HRTEM, UV–vis DRS, FT–IR, and PL instruments. The TiO2 /Ag2 WO4 /AgBr nanocomposites exhibited higher photocatalytic performance under visible light for RhB, fuchsine, and MO degradations compared with the pure TiO2 and binary TiO2 /Ag2 WO4 and TiO2 /AgBr nanocomposites. The optimum photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 /Ag2 WO4 /AgBr (15%) nanocomposite is greater than those of the TiO2, TiO2 /Ag2 WO4 (10%), and TiO2 /AgBr (15%) photocatalysts towards the degradation of RhB by a factor of almost 50.6, 22.6, and 5.1, respectively. The degradation reaction was also examined through trapping experiments and a mechanism for generation of the e − /h + pairs under visible light and promotion spatial separation of the charges through tandem n-n heterojunctions was proposed. We anticipate that the procedure used in this paper can provide a good protocol to design efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts using TiO2 for environmental applications.