Ag@AgCl plasmon-induced sensitized ZnO particle for high-efficiency photocatalytic property under visible light

• Published in: Applied surface science 2013-11, Vol.285, p.490-497
• Main Authors: Li, Weibing, Hua, Fangxia, Yue, Jiguang, Li, Jiwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ag@AgCl; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Photocatalytic; Physics; Surface plasmon resonance; Visible light; ZnO
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2013.08.082

The Ag@AgCl layer in situ deposited on the surface of ZnO particle achieved the photosensitization of ZnO through SPR effect; it established heterojunction interface electric field between ZnO and Ag@AgCl at the same time, facilitating the photogenerated electron–hole separation and accelerating their transfer, thereby effectively increasing the photocatalytic activity of the composites. •Prepared Ag@AgCl/ZnO shell–core structure composite material.•Ag@AgCl/ZnO composite material shows a high photocatalysis performance.•(Photo)electrochemical methods were used to study the performance promotion mechanism.•Significantly reduce overall cost by ZnO introduced in. Metal-semiconductor compounds, such as Ag@AgX (X=Cl, Br, I), enable visible light absorption and separation of photogenerated electron–hole through surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. However, the electron–hole generated and separated by light are vulnerable in Ag@AgX phase because of the occurrence of secondary recombined. In order to more effectively utilize the SPR photocatalytic effect, a heterojunction interface electric field was implemented effectively by introducing some cost-effective semiconductor materials with wide band gap to Ag@AgX compound, thereby preventing photogenerated electrons from secondarily compounding with the holes. In this article, by mixing 500nm diameter ZnO and Ag@AgX compounds with mole ratio 1:1, studies show that 15min illumination under visible light can complete degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), and indicate a high stability of photocatalytic degradation. Through Mott–Schottky plots and photoinduced I–t curve, the results show that through the ZnO/Ag@AgCl composition, heterojunction interface electric field can be formed effectively, thus increasing the separation efficiency and transfer speed of photogenerated electrons and holes, and improving the photocatalytic performance. Meanwhile, Ag@AgCl can implement the photosensitization of ZnO with high efficiency through SPR effect, which will enlarge the response range of photocatalyst to the visible area.