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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