Plasmonic composites WO3/Bi12O17Cl2 decorated with uniform Ag nanoparticles in tiny size: synthesis, analyses, and visible-light photocatalytic performance

Abstract Various novel ternary composites Ag/WO3/Bi12O17Cl2 were successfully constructed through a rapid and facile microwave-assisted approach to decorate Ag nanoparticles onto WO3/Bi12O17Cl2 surface. Through analyses, three expected components were coexisted and formed n-p heterojunctions with Ag nanoparticles of uniform morphology and size below 20 nm. These plasmonic composites with favorable physiochemical properties showed greatly reinforced photocatalytic performance over degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO), and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) upon visible light irradiation. Moreover, these samples exhibited satisfactory structural stability and reusability in both aqueous and saline solution. Eventually, a plausible photocatalysis mechanism was speculated upon analytical and experimental results. Such investigation might provide a series of ternary composites with small size of Ag nanoparticles for sake of contaminants control and environmental preservation.