Template-assisted synthesis of Ag/AgCl hollow microcubes and their composition-dependent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of phenol

Plasmonic photocatalysts with hollow structures and tunable composition exhibit significant advantages due to their high efficiency in light collection and effective charge transfer across the tight contact heterojunction interface. Herein, hollow Ag/AgCl microcubes were developed by treating nanosheet-assembled hollow Ag microcubes with FeCl₃, where a part of Ag at the interface could be in situ transformed and oxidized into AgCl. Equally, by adjusting the concentration of Fe³⁺ ions, Ag/AgCl hollow microcubes with different compositions could be easily achieved. Electron transfer was favored by a lot of tiny Ag/AgCl heterojunctions induced by the in situ oxidation of the multicrystalline Ag hollow microcube template containing a number of grain boundaries. The designed hollow Ag/AgCl microcubes exhibited strong visible-light adsorption owing to the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag nanoparticles, in addition to the multiple light-reflections inside the hollow structure. The as-obtained products were then used as visible-light photocatalysts, where the results indicated that 91.6% of phenol was degraded within 150 min under visible light by the as-obtained sample with a Ag to AgCl ratio of 1 : 3. The superior visible-light photocatalytic activity resulted from the enhancement of the visible light-harvesting and the efficient charge separation at the Ag and AgCl contact interfaces.

Ag/AgCl hollow microcubes with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity were synthesized by the template method, and the charge transfer process was proposed.

Designing Novel Nonsymmetric Ag/AgI Nanoplates for Superior Photocatalytic Activity

Precisely engineering the decoration of metal nanoparticles on the special surface of semiconductor represents a promising strategy to design efficient metal-semiconductor heterostructured photocatalysts. This study demonstrates a versatile soft-template method to fabricate a novel nonsymmetrical heterostructured Ag/AgI nanoplate, in which only one side surface of the nanoplate is covered with uniform 2D Ag nanoweb. Compared with symmetrical heterostructure, the nonsymmetrical heterostructure may further facilitate the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and shows a greatly enhanced photocatalytic activity. This study may open up a new way to improve the photocatalytic property by synthesizing nonsymmetrical metal-semiconductor composites.

Ag/AgxH3-xPMo12O40 Nanowires with Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Performance

Photocatalysis, a promising technology platform to address the environmental problems, has been attracting considerable attention. In this paper, Ag/Ag_xH_3-xPMo₁₂O₄₀ (simplified as Ag/AgHPMo₁₂) nanowires have been synthesized by a facile solid reaction route and in situ photodeposited method. The results of SEM and TEM indicate that the diameters of AgHPMo₁₂ nanowires are about 45 ± 10 nm, and Ag nanoparticles with diameters in the range of 5-15 nm are uniformly anchored on the surface of AgHPMo₁₂ nanowires. The Ag content in the Ag/AgHPMo₁₂ composite was manipulated by the light irradiation time (Ag/AgHPMo₁₂-x; x stands for the irradiation time; x = 2, 4, 6, 8 h, respectively). With increasing irradiation time, the light absorption of as-synthesized samples in the visible region was gradually enhanced. The Ag/AgHPMo₁₂-4 exhibits the best photocatalytic performance for the degradation of methyl orange and reduction of Cr₂O₇^2- under visible-light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation. The study of the photocatalytic mechanism reveals that both Ag and AgHPMo₁₂ can be excited by visible light. The photoinduced electrons were transferred from AgHPMo₁₂ to metallic Ag, and combined with the Ag plasmonic holes. The Ag plasmonic electrons were trapped by O₂ to form ·O₂^-, or directly reduced Cr₂O₇^2- to Cr³⁺. Meanwhile, the ·O₂^- species and the photogenerated holes of AgHPMo₁₂ were used to oxidize MO or i-PrOH; thus, they showed highly efficient and recyclable photocatalytic performance for removing the organic and inorganic pollutants.

Cube-like Ag/AgCl fabricated via a photoirradiation method and its substantially boosted plasmonic photocatalytic reactivity by an oxidation–chloridization treatment

Cube-like Ag/AgCl species are produced by a photoirradiation method, where substantially boosted plasmonic photocatalytic reactivity has been realized via an oxidation–chloridization treatment.

The facile ionic liquid-assisted synthesis of hollow and porous platinum nanotubes with enhanced catalytic performances

A facile one-pot synthetic method was developed to synthesize hollow and porous Pt nanotubes (Pt-HPNTs) using silica nanorods as a template, ionic liquid as a precipitator and reductant, and in situ generated KCl as an etching agent.

A simple method of growing silver chloride nanocubes on silver nanowires

The growth of AgCl nanocubes directly on the sidewalls of Ag nanowires is demonstrated. The nanocubes can be simply obtained through extended low temperature annealing of polyol-synthesized silver nanowires in a vacuum. The length of time and temperature of the anneal and the diameter of the nanowire affect the size and density of the nanocubes obtained. It is hypothesized that the AgCl material is supplied from reactants leftover from the silver nanowire synthesis. This novel hybrid nanostructure may have applications in areas such as photovoltaics, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, and photocatalysis.