Facile synthesis of Ag/AgCl/TiO2 plasmonic photocatalyst with efficiently antibacterial activity

Abstract In this study, a series of highly efficient visible-light-driven Ag/AgCl/TiO 2 plasmonic photocatalysts were synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. Characterization results showed that the as-prepared nanocomposites of 10% Ag/AgCl/TiO 2 showed highly visible light photocatalytic activity, which could disinfect almost all of the Escherichia coli after 40 min treatment. Steady-state and transient photoluminescence spectroscopy indicated that the photocatalytic effect of Ag/AgCl/TiO 2 nanocomposites enhanced remarkably due to the reducing of electron-hole recombination and the increasing of charge separation during the photocatalytic reaction.