title: Template-free synthesis of cube-like Ag/AgCl nanostructures via a direct-precipitation protocol: highly efficient sunlight-driven plasmonic photocatalysts.
abstract: In this paper, we report that cube-like Ag/AgCl nanostructures could be facilely fabricated in a one-pot manner through a direct-precipitation protocol under ambient conditions, wherein no additional issues such as external energy (e.g., high temperature or high pressure), surfactants, or reducing agents are required. In terms of using sodium chloride (NaCl) as chlorine source and silver acetate (CH₃COOAg) as silver source, it is disclosed that simply by adding an aqueous solution of NaCl into an aqueous solution of CH₃COOAg, Ag/AgCl nanostructures with a cube-like geometry, could be successfully formulated. We show that thus-formulated cube-like Ag/AgCl nanospecies could be used as high-performance yet durable visible-light-driven or sunlight-driven plasmonic photocatalysts for the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) pollutants. Compared with the commercially available P25-TiO₂, and the Ag/AgCl nanospheres previously fabricated via a surfactant-assisted method, our current cube-like Ag/AgCl nanostructures could exhibit much higher photocatalytic performance. Our template free protocol might open up new and varied opportunities for an easy synthesis of cube-like Ag/AgCl-based high-performance sunlight-driven plasmonic photocatalysts for organic pollutant elimination.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 2 Zhongguancun Beiyijie, Beijing 100190, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Mingshan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Penglei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wanhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Minghua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D011232:Chemical Precipitation; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation / Q000528:radiation effects; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D018030:Silver Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D012993:Solar Energy; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D018030:Silver Compounds; D012834:Silver; C037548:silver chloride