Visible light activation photocatalytic performance of PbSe quantum dot sensitized TiO2 Nanowires

•Anatase nanowires photosensitized with PbSe quantum dots were synthesized.•The visual light activation photocatalytic performance of the samples was assessed.•The optimal PbSe nanocrystal diameter was found to be 2.5 nm.•90% reduction in methyl orange concentration was achieved in 6 hours.•The best sample outperformed Degussa P25 by a factor of 23.

In this paper we describe the use of differently sized PbSe quantum dots as photosensitizers for anatase TiO2 nanowires under visible light illumination. After the organometallic synthesis of PbSe quantum dots with three different average diameters (1.8, 2.5 and 4.7 nm), the nanocrystals were attached to the surface of nanowires with thioglycolic acid as a linker molecule. These quantum dot decorated nanowires were used as photocatalyst in the methyl orange degradation model reaction with promising results. The best performance achieved was 90% degradation of the initial concentration of methyl orange in six hours over 2.5 nm PbSe quantum dot sensitized nanowires using a 40 W quartz UV lamp equipped with a 400 nm cut-off filter.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide