Surface plasmon resonance-enhanced solar-driven photocatalytic performance from Ag nanoparticles-decorated Ti3+ self-doped porous black TiO2 pillars

Abstract The tiny Ag nanoparticles-uniformly decorated Ti 3+ self-doped porous black TiO 2 pillars (Ag-TPBTPs) are prepared, which show obvious surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and extend the photoresponse to visible light and near-infrared region (∼1500 nm). The Ag-TPBTPs exhibit excellent solar-driven photocatalytic activities by mineralizing of high-toxic 2,4-dichlorophenol (∼99%), which is three times higher than that of the pristine TiO 2 . The remarkable solar-driven photocatalytic performance can be ascribed to the porous pillars structure offering more surface active sites, the self-doped Ti 3+ and SPR effect of Ag nanoparticles improving the utilization of solar light, and enhancing the spatial separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers.