Structural, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of TiO2 films decorated with plasmonic silver nanoparticles

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were deposited on porous TiO2 films by photodeposition method. TiO2 films were prepared by Sol-Gel dip-coating technique and the porous TiO2 films (PTiO2) were elaborated by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) to the starting solution. The effect of UV irradiation time (t UV), used for the deposition of Ag NPs, on structural, optical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of silver loaded porous TiO2 films (Ag/PTiO2) was studied. The Ag NPs were found to be homogeneously dispersed on PTiO2 films surfaces. The plasmonic effect in Ag/PTiO2 films is evidenced by the drastic change in the visible light absorption. Under simulated solar light, Ag/PTiO2 samples show a higher PEC activity compared with PTiO2 film. The highest PEC activity was obtained for tUV = 15 min and for longer UV illumination PEC response decreased.