Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of plasmonic Ag@AgCl composite immobilized on titanate nanowire films

Abstract In this work, we prepared novel visible-light-responsive plasmonic Ag@AgCl composite by immobilizing AgCl nanoparticles (NPs) onto titanate nanowire films, and then reducing Ag + species to Ag 0 in situ on the surface of AgCl NPs to form metallic Ag NPs. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption–desorption, diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Compared to Degussa P25, the as-prepared photocatalysts show greater visible-light photoreactivity toward the degradation of methyl orange (MO) in water. Additionally, they also exhibit enhanced photocatalytic performance in the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and phenol. The underlying photocatalytic mechanism dictated by localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and highly reactive radicals is discussed.