Au or Ag nanoparticle-decorated 3D urchin-like TiO2 nanostructures: Synthesis, characterization, and enhanced photocatalytic activity

• Au or Ag nanoparticle-decorated 3D urchin-like TiO2 nanostructures were prepared.
• The decorated nanostructures show quenched photoluminence.
• The decorated nanostructures exhibit superior photocatalytic activity.

The semiconductors decorated with noble metals have attracted increasing attention due to their interesting physical and chemical properties. Here, 3D urchin-like hierarchical TiO2 nanostructures decorated with Au or Ag nanoparticles were prepared by wet-chemical process. The morphology and structure were characterized by different techniques. It shows that Au or Ag nanoparticles with narrow distribution are uniformly loaded on urchin-like TiO2 nanostructures, and the resulted composite nanostructures show distinct surface plasmon absorption band and quenched photoluminence compared to pure TiO2 nanostructures. Photocatalytic tests show both Au-decorated TiO2 and Ag-decorated TiO2 exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity for photodegradation of methyl blue in water.

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