A novel preparation of Ag@TiO2 tubes and their potent photocatalytic degradation efficiency

Abstract

Hollow TiO₂ nanotubes have been produced by combining electrospinning with a soaking process and controlled calcination method. Silver was successfully coated on the surface of the TiO₂ tubes through the immersion burning method. Structure and components of TiO₂ and Ag/TiO₂ tubes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photocatalysis properties were verified by degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye. From the results, the Ag/TiO₂ hollow tubes could degrade methyl orange efficiently under UV light irradiation, showing excellent photocatalytic activity over pure TiO₂. The synthesis mechanism of the Ag/TiO₂ tubes and the mechanism for silver-enhanced photocatalytic activity have been conjectured.