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Plasmon-induced charge separation by Ag nanoparticles between titanium dioxide and MWCNTs for natural sunlight-driven photocatalysis

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Abstract

Developing low-cost and high-performance photocatalysts is a crucial factor in pollutants treatment processes. This study reports the UV light-assisted synthesis of a heterojunction nanocomposite TiO2/Ag0/CNTs as an efficient catalyst for degradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) under visible illumination. The rate constant Kobs of TiO2/Ag0/CNTs was about four times higher than that of the pristine TiO2. The superior photocatalytic behavior of TiO2/Ag0/CNTs heterojunction could be ascribed to the positive synergetic effects of the localized surface plasmonic resonance of metallic Ag0 nanoparticles, increased reaction active sites, and improved photogenerated charge separation due to the effective electron transfer processes between TiO2/Ag0 pair and MWCNTs. It was also found that superoxide radicals played the predominant role in the photocatalytic degradation of AO7. This study provides new insights for designing inexpensive ternary photocatalysts with interfacial nanojunctions and multilevel electron transfer for practical application.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are included in this article and available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

MWCNTs:

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes

TA:

TiO2/Ag

TAM:

TiO2/Ag@MWCNTs

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Tarbiat Modares University for technical and financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering Division, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Amir Mehdi Soltanieh & Hossein Ganjidoust

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Reza Mahjoub & Zeynab Khazaee

  3. Department of Basic Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

    Amir Hossein Cheshme Khavar

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  1. Amir Mehdi Soltanieh
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  2. Amir Hossein Cheshme Khavar
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  3. Hossein Ganjidoust
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Correspondence to Hossein Ganjidoust or Ali Reza Mahjoub.

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Soltanieh, A.M., Khavar, A.H.C., Ganjidoust, H. et al. Plasmon-induced charge separation by Ag nanoparticles between titanium dioxide and MWCNTs for natural sunlight-driven photocatalysis. J IRAN CHEM SOC 19, 2297–2309 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13738-021-02447-x

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