A novel ternary plasmonic photocatalyst: ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheet hybrided by Ag/AgVO3 nanoribbons with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance

• Ag/AgVO3/C3N4 was synthesized by a facile one-step in-suit hydrothermal method.
• 1D Ag/AgVO3 nanoribbons are uniformly dispersed on the surfaces of 2D C3N4 nanosheets.
• The electric field distribution was simulated by FDTD method.
• Ag/AgVO3/C3N4 displays superior photocatalytic activity.

A novel Ag/AgVO3/C3N4 ternary plasmonic photocatalyst was synthesized via a facile one-step in-situ hydrothermal method, in which the self-assembling one-dimensional (1D) AgVO3 nanoribbons on the surface of two-dimensional (2D) C3N4 ultrathin nanosheets and Ag nanoparticles generated from AgNO3 decomposition were achieved simultaneously. In this innovative hybrid structure, 1D Ag/AgVO3 nanoribbons are uniformly dispersed on the surfaces of 2D C3N4 nanosheets. The Ag/AgVO3/C3N4 reveals the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of basic fuchsin (BF) with apparent rate constant of 0.0701 min−1, which is about 12.5 and 3.1 times higher than pure C3N4 (0.0056 min−1) and Ag/AgVO3 (0.0226 min−1), respectively. The excellent photocatalytic performance of the ternary plasmonic photocatalyst can be attributed to the enhanced absorbance in the visible light region, the good adsorptive capacity to BF molecules, and the facilitated charge transfer in Ag/AgVO3/C3N4. The present study will benefit the development of one new plasmonic photocatalyst and be influential in meeting the environmental demands in the future.

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