Hydrogenated mixed phase Ag/TiO2 nanoparticle – A super-active photocatalyst under visible radiation with multi-cyclic stability

• Visible active hydrogenated co-junction of mixed phase TiO2 homojunction and Ag/TiO2 junction.
• Swift carrier injection by plasmonic nanostructure of semiconductor-metal Schottky junction.
• Robust multicyclic-stability of the catalyst under visible light.

The synergistic effect of silver nanoparticle sensitization and surface disordering of mixed phased titania makes it highly active photocatalyst under visible light. The physico-chemical analysis of the samples indicates that surface plasmon induced local field enhancement, reduction in the band gap due to hydrogenation, intrinsic band offset at the phase interface and the resultant swift migration of photo-generated carrier to catalyst surface makes the catalyst highly visible active. The photoactivity of the hydrogenated mixed phase Ag/TiO2 catalyst is found to be about ~28.2 times high compared to the reference catalyst DP25 in degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation while an opposite behavior is observed under UV light. One the most distinctive feature of the catalyst concluded on the basis of its reusability test is the multicyclic-stability of its performance under visible light which shows it to be robust.

A graphical representation of the photoactivity of all the catalysts under visible illumination and the schematic of the plasmonic metal–semiconductor Schottky junction.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide