Structural Design of Near-Infrared Light-Active Cu/TiO2/NaYF4:Yb,Er Nanocomposite Photocatalysts

Photocatalysis under low energy light is of great importance for study of environmental pollution impact. There is an increasing demand for preparing integrated photocatalysts to show their potential in persistent organic compound degradation under visible and near-infrared light. In this work, we have reported the structural combination of three functional components of NaYF4:Yb,Er, TiO2, Cu into photocatalytic nanocomposites for near-infrared light (NIR) photocatalysis. Uniform and monodisperse NaYF4:Yb,Er nanocubes prepared by hydrothermolysis were used as a photon converter and they were combined with TiO2 semiconductor and Cu co-catalysts by sequential deposition to fabricate NIR-active photocatalysts. The Cu/TiO2/NaYF4:Yb,Er nanocomposites were investigated for the organic degradation under NIR light. The Cu/TiO2/NaYF4:Yb,Er photocatalysts were photoactive with NIR light and full decomposition of methylene blue was reached for 90 min. These nanocomposites exhibit the NIR photocatalytic response caused by the NIR light absorption and photon electron transfer over NaYF4:Yb,Er, TiO2, and Cu components.