title: Au or Ag nanoparticle-decorated 3D urchin-like TiO2 nanostructures: synthesis, characterization, and enhanced photocatalytic activity.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Smart Materials Laboratory, Department of Applied Physics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China.
authors.forename: Liqin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Chaohong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D001557:Benzenesulfonates / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D001557:Benzenesulfonates; C009495:titanium dioxide; D012834:Silver; D006046:Gold; C414357:Methyl Blue; D014025:Titanium