Sonochemical Synthesis of Ag/AgCl Nanocubes and Their Efficient Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic Performance

A novel one‐step sonochemical approach to synthesize a plasmonic photocatalyst of AgCl nanocubes (ca. 115 nm in edge length) with a small amount of Ag metal species is presented. The nanoscale Ag/AgCl hybrid photocatalysts with cubic morphology are readily formed under ambient ultrasonic conditions and neither external heat treatment nor reducing agents are required. The size of the Ag/AgCl photocatalysts could be controlled by changing the concentrations of Ag⁺ ions and polyvinylpyrrolidone molecules in precursor solutions. The compositions, microstructures, influencing factors, and possible growth mechanism of the Ag/AgCl hybrid nanocubes were systematically investigated. The Ag/AgCl photocatalysts show excellent photocatalytic performance for degradation of various dye molecules under visible light.     

One-pot sequential synthesis of magnetically separable Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>/AgCl photocatalysts with enhanced activity and stability

Magnetically separable Fe₃O₄/AgCl photocatalysts were prepared by a one-pot sequential method. A series of techniques proved the hybrid structure of Fe₃O₄/AgCl composites. Fe₃O₄/AgCl composites had a much higher photocatalytic activity toward Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation than pure AgCl under the simulated solar light irradiation. The existence of metal Ag resulted in high photocatalytic activity of Fe₃O₄/AgCl, which was related with the amount of metallic Ag. The scavenging experiments showed that the degradation reaction most probably was initiated by the photoinduced single-electron transfer, and the generation of superoxide anion (O ₂ ^-· ) played a significant role. The composite photocatalysts could be recycled by applying an external magnetic field, and the reused composites maintained their original photocatalytic activity. Fe₃O₄/AgCl composites were highly efficient, magnetically separable, and recoverable. This proves their potential applications in the photodegradation of organic pollutants.     

Synthesis of V5+‐doped Ag/AgCl photocatalysts with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

V⁵⁺‐doped Ag/AgCl photocatalysts were prepared via the ion exchange method. The catalysts were characterized using X‐ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy, and energy‐dispersive X‐ray, X‐ray photoelectron, Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopies. The V⁵⁺‐doped Ag/AgCl photocatalysts show much higher photocatalytic activities than Ag/AgCl under visible light irradiation for methyl orange (MO) decomposition. Especially, the 2.0 wt% V⁵⁺‐doped Ag/AgCl photocatalyst shows the highest photocatalytic activity and also high stability after five cycles. The MO degradation rate during each cycle is almost maintained at 97%. Electron spin resonance spectroscopy and radical trapping experiments reveal that holes play an important role in the photocatalytic process.     

Preparation and photocatalytic activity of carbon dot/Ag/AgCl

CD (carbon dot)/Ag/AgCl compound photocatalysts with different compounding degrees were prepared via a precipitation method, and their physiochemical properties were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, FE‐SEM, UV–vis and the like. Through the degradation experiment of methyl orange (MO), the effects of different compounding amount and methyl orange concentration on photocatalytic degradation were investigated to find the best ratio. It was found the photocatalytic activity of CD/Ag/AgCl was significantly higher than Ag/AgCl, and the best compounding dosage was 6 mg/l carbon dot. The degradation rate of CD/Ag/AgCl was lower when the initial MO concentration was higher. Five repeated experiments were conducted to test the stability of the catalysts, and showed the MO degradation rates were all above 85%, indicating the CD/Ag/AgCl compound photocatalysts all showed high stability and repeatability. The reaction mechanism of CD/Ag/AgCl photocatalyst was studied by electrochemical experiments and ESR experiments. The results show that the doping of CD effectively improves the photocatalytic degradation ability of MO.     

Ag/AgCl/BiOIO3三元复合物光催化剂的性能增强机制

半导体光催化技术是一种环境友好技术,它既能在温和条件下应用于环境领域——利用光能降解有机和无机污染物,又可应用于能源领域——将低密度的太阳能转化为高密度的洁净能源,因而在解决环境污染和能源匮乏问题方面展现出巨大的应用潜力.最近,一种新型Bi基光催化剂, BiOIO3,表现出优异的紫外光催化性能.它由层状[Bi2O2]2+和[IO3]?组装而成,带隙为3.1 eV左右.然而,其较大的带隙限制了其对太阳光的利用.近年来,多种方法如金属掺杂、非金属掺杂、半导体复合、光敏化改性和加氢处理被用来提高半导体的光催化效率.其中,以Ag/AgX (X=Cl, I和Br)作为助催化剂可提高体系的可见光吸收和载流子的分离能力,从而增强光催化性能.基于此,我们设计并合成了一种新型的三元光催化剂.首先采用水热法合成了BiOIO3纳米片,然后在室温条件下原位引进Ag/AgCl,制备了Ag/AgCl/BiOIO3三元异质结构.与Ag/AgCl和纯的BiOIO3相比,该三元Ag/AgCl/BiOIO3复合物光催化剂对NO表现出优异的可见光光催化去除性能.本文采用X射线衍射(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、扫描式电子显微镜(SEM)、电化学测试(光电流和阻抗谱)和紫外-可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis)等表征手段研究了Ag/AgCl/BiOIO3光催化性能增强的机制. SEM结果表明,制备的Ag/AgCl/BiOIO3三元复合物为纳米颗粒和纳米片形貌, Ag/AgCl的引入对BiOIO3形貌影响不大. XRD和XPS测试结果表明,与纯的BiOIO3相比,随着Ag/AgCl 的加入,复合物的峰位置发生了明显位移,表明Ag, AgCl和BiOIO3三组分间存在强的相互作用.光电流响应图谱表明,随着Ag/AgCl的加入, Ag/AgCl/BiOIO3的光电流强度明显增强,同时阻抗谱的圆弧直径明显减小,表明电子和空穴的分离能力增强. UV-Vis图谱中, BiOIO3在可见光区几乎没有吸收,而三元复合物表现出明显的可见光吸收,且随着Ag/AgCl量的增加,复合物的可见光吸收增强,该吸收归结于复合物中Ag的表面等离子体吸收.结合之前报道的光催化剂体系如Ag/AgCl和Ag/AgCl/TiO2,我们提出了Ag/AgCl/BiOIO3复合物光催化剂性能增强的机制.在可见光照射下, Ag0因其表面等离子体吸收而产生电子空穴对.由于功函数不同, Ag和BiOIO3之间形成肖特基势垒.电子从Ag0表面转移到BiOIO3的导带上, BiOIO3导带上电子的电势不足以把O2氧化成?O2?,但电子能以多电子的形式与O2和H+生成水.同时, Ag0表面的空穴能将AgCl表面的Cl?氧化成Cl0.光照诱导AgCl表面的部分Ag+离子被还原,所以AgCl粒子的表面带负电荷. Cl0是活性自由基,能够氧化去除NO,反应之后自身被还原成Cl?.由此可见,在三元复合光催化剂中, Ag0在可见光照射下因其表面等离子体效应产生电子空穴对,随后BiOIO3有效地分离了光生载流子,使得复合材料能有效地利用光生电子和空穴.故三元Ag/AgCl/BiOIO3复合物光催化剂增强的光催化性能可归结于Ag的表面等离子体吸收和BiOIO3的载流子分离能力.该结果有助于设计和制备具有优异的光催化性能的BiOIO3基材料.     

Rapid microwave-assisted nonaqueous synthesis and growth mechanism of AgCl/Ag, and its daylight-driven plasmonic photocatalysis

We report on a rapid microwave‐assisted nonaqueous synthesis and the growth mechanism of AgCl/Ag with controlled size and shape. By rationally varying the reaction temperature and the microwave irradiation time, we achieved the transformation of nanocubes to rounded triangular pyramids by a combined process of “oriented attachment” and Ostwald ripening. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) properties of the as‐prepared AgCl/Ag have been found to be somewhat dependent on the size, morphology, and composition. The as‐prepared AgCl/Ag exhibits high photocatalytic activity and good reusability for decomposing organic pollutants (such as methyl orange (MO), rhodamine B (RhB), and pentachlorophenol (PCP)) under indoor artificial daylight illumination (ca. 1 mW cm^?2). The AgCl/Ag has also been found to display a superior ability to harvest diffuse indoor daylight (ca. 5 mW cm^?2), and could complete the degradation of 10 mg L ^?1 MO within 15 min. Experiments involving the trapping of active species have shown that the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in the AgCl/Ag system may proceed through direct hole transfer. This study has revealed that plasmonic daylight photocatalysis may open a new frontier for indoor pollutant control around the clock under fluorescent lamp illumination.     

A Simple Method for the Preparation of TiO2/Ag‐AgCl@Polypyrrole Composite and Its Enhanced Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Activity

A novel and facile method was developed to prepare a visible‐light driven TiO₂/Ag‐AgCl@polypyrrole (PPy) photocatalyst with Ag‐AgCl nanoparticles supported on TiO₂ nanofibers and covered by a thin PPy shell. During the synthesis, the PPy shell and Ag‐AgCl nanoparticles were prepared simultaneously onto TiO₂ nanofibers, which simplified the preparation procedure. In addition, because Ag‐AgCl aggregates were fabricated via partly etching the Ag nanoparticles, their size was well controlled at the nanoscale, which was beneficial for improvement of the contact surface area. Compared with reference photocatalysts, the TiO₂/Ag‐AgCl@PPy composite exhibited an enhanced photodegradation activity towards rhodamine B under visible‐light irradiation. The superior photocatalytic property originated from synergistic effects between TiO₂ nanofibers, Ag‐AgCl nanoparticles and the PPy shell. Furthermore, the TiO₂/Ag‐AgCl@PPy composite could be easily separated and recycled without obvious reduction in activity.     

One step in situ synthesis of Ag/AgCl nanoparticles in a cellulose nanofiber matrix for the development of energy storage paper

Cellulose - In the present work, we prepare Cellulose Nanofibers Films (CNFs) incorporating silver nanostructures (Ag/AgCl nanocubes) in a ratio of 1–20 wt% to the organic matrix. We found...     

Silver nanocubes monolayers as a SERS substrate for quantitative analysis

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful spectroscopic tool in quantitative analysis of molecules, where the substrate plays a critical role in determining the detection performance. Herein, a silver nanocubes/polyelectrolyte/gold film sandwich structure was prepared as a reproducible, high-performance SERS substrate by the water/oil interfacial assembly method. In addition to the hot spots on the nanocubes surface, the edge-to-edge interspace of the Ag nanocubes led to marked enhancement of the SERS intensity, with a limit of detection of 10^?11 mol/L and limit of quantitation of 10^?10 mol/L for crystal violet. When rhodamine 6G and crystal violet were co-adsorbed on the Ag nanocube surfaces, the characteristic SERS peaks of the two molecules remained well resolved and separated, and the peak intensities varied with the respective concentration, which could be exploited for concurrent detection of dual molecules. Results from this work indicate that organized ensembles of Ag nanocubes can serve as effective SERS substrate can for sensitive analysis for complex molecular systems.     

Polyoxometalate-directed assembly of water-soluble AgCl nanocubes

"Out-of-pocket" association of Ag(+) to the tetradentate defect site of mono-vacant Keggin and Wells-Dawson polyoxometalate (POM) cluster-anions is used to direct the formation of water-soluble AgCl nanocubes.     

Ag/AgCl复合纳米粒子/聚丙烯腈纳米纤维膜的制备及可见光催化降解甲基橙

通过电纺丝法结合原位还原及原位氧化反应, 成功制备了均匀负载Ag/AgCl复合纳米粒子/聚丙烯腈(PAN)复合纳米纤维膜. 首先利用电纺丝技术制备了PAN/AgNO₃复合纳米纤维, 然后用乙二醇将硝酸银还原成银纳米粒子, 最后采用三氯化铁溶液对材料进行原位氧化. 所得纤维膜材料可以作为高效的可见光催化剂, 具有高可见光利用率, 优异的柔性和高光催化动力学等特性.     

Performance of silver nanocubes based on electrochemical surface area for catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction

Ag nanocubes that are 45 nm in size are synthesized and successfully used as catalysts in oxygen electroreduction. Electrochemical surface areas (ESAs) are considered to determine the effect on HO₂⁻ production, which is found to be in the following order: nanocubes < nanoparticles. Comparative data generated using Tafel analyses in 0.1 M NaOH electrolyte without and with methanol show that unchanged slopes on the prepared cubic catalysts can indicate high resistance of Ag nanocubes for methanol oxidation during oxygen reduction reaction. Among these Ag catalysts, nanocubes exhibit 9.29 × 10^− 2 mA cm^− 2 (at − 0.15 V vs. Ag/AgCl), the better activity in the oxygen reduction reaction.     

F127反相微乳液的组成对AgCl纳米粒子形成及AgCl/F127-PMMA杂化膜结构和性能的影响

以F127为表面活性剂构成的反相微乳液制备AgCl纳米粒子和AgCl/F127-PMMA杂化膜,通过紫外可见光谱(UV-visible)、透射电镜(TEM)研究了微乳液的增容水量(ω)和盐浓度(Csalt)对AgCl粒子形成与形貌的影响;结合表面ζ电位测定、扫描电镜(SEM)分析和溶胀实验等考察了AgCl/F127-PMMA杂化膜的结构和性能。研究结果表明,低ω下盐浓度增加,胶束中AgCl反应速率增大,导致大量小粒径AgCl粒子的形成;高ω下盐浓度增加,将加快AgCl粒子的生长,从而导致胶束中的AgCl粒子粒径增大;各种ω下盐浓度的增加,都会引起胶束中单质Ag的形成。杂化膜的SEM分析显示,AgCl粒子粒径越小,在杂化膜中的分散性越好,膜表面的ζ电位也越高,膜在苯中的溶胀性能也越高;单质Ag的出现和AgCl粒子数目的增多,杂化膜中将显现明显的粒子团聚现象,这极大地影响了杂化膜在苯中的溶胀性能;而杂化膜在环己烷中的溶胀性能较低,且随ω和盐浓度的变化极小。     

异质结构AgCl/Bi2WO6微米球制备、表征及其光催化性能

首先利用水热法制备了由纳米片组装的粒径为1.5–2μm的Bi2WO6微球,然后在微球表面沉积了不同含量的AgCl (5 wt%,10wt%,20wt%,30wt%),制备了异质结构AgCl/Bi2WO6微球光催化剂.利用X射线粉末衍射、扫描电镜、透射电镜、红外光谱、紫外-可见漫反射吸收等手段对所制的光催化剂进行表征,并以紫外光和可见光分别为光源,罗丹明B为降解对象测试了其光催化活性,考察复合不同含量的AgCl对Bi2WO6光催化剂的性能影响.结果表明,沉积AgCl对Bi2WO6的晶体结构、表面性能和光吸收性能没有产生明显影响,但大幅度提高了Bi2WO6的紫外和可见光催化活性.当复合20wt%AgCl时, AgCl/Bi2WO6光催化活性最佳,紫外光下比纯Bi2WO6提高了2.2倍,可见光下提高了1倍.这主要是由于形成的AgCl/Bi2WO6异质结能有效抑制光生电子和空穴的复合,从而提了其光催化性能.     

Al2O3负载Ag催化剂的杀菌作用

 考察了空气中Al2O3负载的Ag催化剂(Ag/Al2O3和AgCl/Al2O3)对大肠杆菌(E.coli)的杀灭作用. 结果表明,负载Ag的催化剂的杀菌效果明显好于Al2O3. 在空气中,催化剂上溶出的Ag+对细菌的重金属毒性可以忽略. Ag/Al2O3, AgCl/Al2O3和Al2O3在有氧和无氧条件下的杀菌效果表明, Ag促进了催化剂表面分子态氧向活性氧转化,活性氧通过氧化作用破坏E.coli 的细胞膜,从而提高了催化剂的杀菌能力. 扫描电镜结果证实在催化剂表面E.coli细胞的破坏是从细胞膜开始的.     

Facile Synthesis of Ag Nanocubes of 30 to 70 nm in Edge Length with CF3COOAg as a Precursor

This paper describes a new protocol to synthesize Ag nanocubes of 30 to 70 nm in edge length with the use of CF₃COOAg as a precursor to elemental silver. By adding a trace amount of NaSH and HCl to the polyol synthesis, Ag nanocubes were obtained with good quality, high reproducibility, and on a scale up to 0.19 g per batch for the 70 nm Ag nanocubes. The Ag nanocubes were found to grow in size at a controllable pace over the course of synthesis. The linear relationship between the edge length of the Ag nanocubes and the position of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak provides a simple method for finely tuning and controlling the size of the Ag nanocubes by monitoring the UV/Vis spectra of the reaction at different times.     

Effect of Cl− anions on photocatalytic decomposition of gaseous ozone over Au @ Ag/TiO2 catalyst

Au core Ag shell composite structure nanoparticles were prepared using a sol method. The Au core Ag shell composite nanoparticles were loaded on TiO₂ nanoparticles as support using a modified powder–sol method, enabling the generation of Au @ Ag/TiO₂ photocatalysts for photocatalytic decomposition and elimination of ozone. The sols were characterized by means of ultraviolet–visible light (UV–Vis) reflection spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The activity of the Au @ Ag/TiO₂ photocatalysts for photocatalytic decomposition and elimination of ozone was evaluated and the effect of Cl^? anions on the photocatalytic activity of the catalysts was highlighted. Results showed that Au @ Ag/TiO₂ prepared via the modified powder–sol route in the presence of an appropriate amount of NaCl solid as demulsifier had better activity in the photocatalytic decomposition and elimination of ozone. At the same time, Au @ Ag/TiO₂ catalysts had better ability to resist poisonous Cl^? anions than conventional Au/TiO₂ catalyst. The reasons could be, first, that NaCl was capable of reducing the concentration of free Ag⁺ by adsorption on the surface of Ag particles forming AgCl and enhancing the formation of Au core Ag shell particles, leading to a better resistance to Cl^? anions of the catalysts, and, second, AgCl took part in the photocatalytic decomposition of ozone together with Au @ Ag/TiO₂ catalysts and had a synergistic effect on the latter, resulting in better photocatalytic activity of Au @ Ag/TiO₂ catalysts.     

Mechanistic studies on the galvanic replacement reaction between multiply twinned particles of Ag and HAuCl4 in an organic medium

This article presents a mechanistic study on the galvanic replacement reaction between 11- and 14-nm multiply twinned particles (MTPs) of Ag and HAuCl4 in chloroform. We monitored both morphological and spectral changes as the molar ratio of HAuCl4 to Ag was increased. The details of reaction were different from previous observations on single-crystal Ag nanocubes and cuboctahedrons. Because Au and Ag form alloys rapidly within small MTPs rich in vacancy and grain boundary defects, a complete Au shell did not form on the surface of each individual Ag template. Instead, the replacement reaction resulted in the formation of alloy nanorings and nanocages from Ag MTPs of decahedral or icosahedral shape. For the nanorings and nanocages derived from 11-nm Ag MTPs, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak can be continuously shifted from 400 to 616 nm. When the size of Ag MTPs was increased to 14 nm, the SPR peak can be further shifted to 740 nm, a wavelength sought by biomedical applications. We have also investigated the effects of capping ligands and AgCl precipitate on the replacement reaction. While hollow structures were routinely generated from oleylamine-capped Ag MTPs, we obtained very few hollow structures by using a stronger capping ligand such as oleic acid or tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO). Addition of extra oleylamine was found to be critical to the formation of well-controlled, uniform hollow structures free of AgCl contamination thanks to the formation of a soluble complex between AgCl and oleylamine.     

Replacement of Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) by Thiols: A Systematic Study of Ag Nanocube Functionalization by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

In this work, we used surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to monitor the replacement of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) on Ag nanocubes by cysteamine, thiol-terminated PEG, and benzenedithiol. PVP is widely used as a colloidal stabilizer and capping agent to control the shape of Ag (as well as many other noble metals) nanocrystals during synthesis, and to stabilize the final colloidal suspension. However, the surface chemistry of Ag nanocrystals often needs to be tailored for specific applications, so the PVP coating must be removed and/or replaced by other ligands. By monitoring the signature peak from the carbonyl groups of PVP, we show, for the first time, that the PVP adsorbed on the surface of Ag nanocubes was completely replaced by the thiol molecules at room temperature over the course of a few hours. We observed the same trend no matter if the Ag nanocubes were suspended in an aqueous solution of the thiol or supported on a silicon substrate and then immersed in the thiol solution.     

Controlled orientation in a bio-inspired assembly of Ag/AgCl/ZnO nanostructures enables enhancement in visible-light-induced photocatalytic performance

In a bio-inspired approach, polyamine-mediated mineralization of ZnO was explored to develop an environmentally benign methodology for synthesizing Ag/AgCl/ZnO nanostructures. The assembling properties displayed by the polyamines to create composite structures was utilized to have the nanocomponents effectively interact with each other in a way that is desirable for the application envisaged. The polyamines, which act as a mineralizing agent for ZnO nanoparticles, also facilitate the formation of Ag/AgCl within ZnO under ambient conditions. Thus synthesized Ag/AgCl/ZnO nanostructures represent a multi-heterojunction system in which the nanocomponents lead in a synergistic way to enhancement in the photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation.