Effect of the Concentration of Silver Nanoparticles on the Photocatalytic Activity of Titanium Dioxide Nanorods

Abstract

In this paper the results of a study of the effect of the concentration of silver nanoparticles in films of titanium dioxide nanorods on their photocatalytic activity are presented.Titanium dioxide nanorods with a rutile structure was obtained usingthe method of hydrothermal synthesis. Due tochanging with the amount of substance of the transition metal silver salt (AgNO3) and chemical reduction on the surface of the titanium dioxide nanorods, Ag nanoparticles of different concentrations were obtained. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was assessed by the amount of photocurrent obtained from a unit of film surface and photodegradation of methylene blue dye when illuminating the surface with a light source of a Xenon lamp.Surface morphologies and energy dispersive X-ray studies showed that Ag nanoparticles were uniformly distributed and anchored on the titanium dioxide nanorods surface.