Synthesis of Natural Cellulose-Templated TiO2/Ag Nanosponge Composites and Photocatalytic Properties

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 4; no. 5; pp. 2781 - 2787
• Main Authors: Yu, Dong-Hui, Yu, Xiaodan, Wang, Changhua, Liu, Xian-Chun, Xing, Yan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 01.05.2012
• Subjects: natural cellulose; sol−gel; nanosponge; photoreduction; photocatalysis
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/am3004363

In this paper, TiO2/Ag sponge-like nanostructure composites have been prepared by the surface sol–gel method with the template of natural cellulose, which is relatively simple, low-cost, and environmentally friendly. The Ag nanoparticles are deposited on the TiO2 nanosponges through UV irradiation photoreduction of silver nitrate solutions. The physicochemical properties of as-prepared composites are characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, TEM, XPS and UV–vis DRS techniques. The UV-light photocatalytic activities of the composites are evaluated through the photodegradation of two model organic molecules including RhB and salicylic acid. The experimental results show that the photocatalytic activities of TiO2/Ag nanosponge composites are superior to that of P25, pure TiO2 nanoparticle aggregates synthesized by the hydrothermal method and pure TiO2 nanosponge. The superior activities of TiO2/Ag nanosponge composite photocatalysts can be attributed to the unique nanosponge morphology, uniform dispersion of Ag nanoparticles, and strong interaction between Ag and TiO2 nanosponges.