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A new Ag/Bi7Ta3O18 plasmonic photocatalyst with a visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

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Abstract

A new plasmonic photocatalyst Ag/Bi7Ta3O18 was fabricated by photodeposition-hydrothermal method. The phase composition, microstructure, surface areas, average pore size, UV-vis diffuse reflection spectra, and photocatalytic activities of composite photocatalysts were investigated in detail. The results of the measurements indicated that the Ag0 nanoparticle successfully loads on the surface of Bi7Ta3O18, and the 0.06 Ag/Bi7Ta3O18 photocatalysts exhibited the best photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). The improved photocatalytic activity could be contributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance caused by the collective oscillation of the surface electrons of Ag nanoparticles. Additionally, the photocatalytic reaction mechanism was studied by photoluminescence photocurrent, and electron spin resonance analysis. As a result, the Ag nanoparticles onto the Bi7Ta3O18 surface enlarged the electron-hole separation, and the (˙OH) was the dominated active species of degradation RhB in the photocatalytic process.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 53200859638) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC Grant No. 51572245).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Materials Utilization of Nonmetallic Minerals and Solid Wastes, National Laboratory of Mineral Materials, School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    HongWei Li, Hekai Zhu, Meng Wang, Xin Min, Minghao Fang, Zhaohui Huang, Yan’gai Liu & Xiaowen Wu

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  1. HongWei Li
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  2. Hekai Zhu
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  3. Meng Wang
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  4. Xin Min
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  5. Minghao Fang
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  7. Yan’gai Liu
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Correspondence to Minghao Fang or Zhaohui Huang.

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Li, H., Zhu, H., Wang, M. et al. A new Ag/Bi7Ta3O18 plasmonic photocatalyst with a visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity. Journal of Materials Research 32, 3650–3659 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2017.299

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