Photochemical synthesis and characterization of Ag/TiO₂ nanotube composites

摘要

TiO₂ nanotubes were fabricated by a hydrothermal method. Silver nanoparticles with diameters around 3–5 nm were loaded onto the surface of TiO₂ nanotubes via a deposition approach followed by a photochemical reduction process under ultraviolet irradiation. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N₂ adsorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis), and fluorescence spectroscopy (FL) were applied to characterize the as-prepared Ag/TiO₂ nanotube composites. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared materials was investigated by photodegrading of methyl orange. The results showed that silver particles were in zero oxidation state and highly dispersed on the surface of TiO₂ nanotubes when the concentration of Ag+ was low. The presence of metallic silver can help the electron-hole separation by attracting photoelectrons. The Ag/TiO₂ nanotube composites with a suitable amount of silver showed a further improvement on the photocatalytic activity for degradation of methyl orange in water.