Enhanced Solar Light Photocatalytic Activity of Ag Doped TiO2–Ag3PO4 Composites

Abstract

Composites comprised of Ag3PO4 and bare TiO2 (TiO2@Ag3PO4) or silver doped TiO2 (Ag@TiO2–Ag3PO4) have been synthesized by coupling sol–gel and precipitation methods. For the sake of comparison, also the bare components have been similarly prepared. All the samples have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), photoelectrochemical measurements, and specific surface area (SSA) analysis. The optoelectronic and structural features of the samples have been related to their photocatalytic activity for the degradation of 4–nitrophenol under solar and UV light irradiation. Coupling Ag3PO4 with silver doped TiO2 mitigates photocorrosion of the Ag3PO4 counterpart, and remarkably improves the photocatalytic activity under solar light irradiation with respect to the components, to the TiO2–Ag3PO4 sample, and to the benchmark TiO2 Evonik P25. These features open the route to future applications of this material in the field of environmental remediation.

Structural, Morphological, and Optical Investigation of Ag‐Doped TiO2/rGO Nanocomposite Synthesized by Ex Situ Route

“…However, decreased crystal dimensions increases the microstructural strain that also shrinkages the crystallite size. [ 13 ] The decrement observed from 12.2 nm for bare TiO 2 to 8.4 nm of Ag‐TiO2/rGO composite as a similar phenomenon observed in literature reports as ionic radii of silver ion different than titanium ion. [ 14 ]…”

“…So narrowed band gap makes these samples better candidate for optoelectronic and photocatalytic applications. [ 13,19,20 ]…”

A facile synthesis of bio‐inspired hierarchical microstructure TiO2: Characterization and photocatalytic activity

“…The UV‐DRS spectra were transformed to Kubelka‐Munk function, 101 following which Tauc plot ([F(R). hν] n vs. hν (hν = photon energy, eV and n = 1/2)) was used for the determination of the indirect band gap values of all samples 102 (Figure 12).…”

Synthesis of Ag decorated TiO2 nanoneedles for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye

“…Other researchers reported that the presence of Ag in TiO 2 displayed a redshift toward the visible region. Indeed, they predicted that the addition of silver ions is often used to create transitional energy states resulting from the high electronic interaction between the orbitals of TiO 2 and silver [68].…”