Morphology-controlled synthesis of sunlight-driven plasmonic photocatalysts Ag@AgX (X = Cl, Br) with graphene oxide template

Abstract

Novel cubic Ag@AgX@Graphene (X = Cl, Br) nanocomposites are facilely manipulated by means of a graphene oxide (GO) sheet-assisted assembly protocol, where GO sheets act as an amphiphilic template for hetero-growth of AgX nanoparticles. A morphology transformation of AgX nanoparticles from sphere to cube-like shape was accomplished by involving GO. With further UV irradiation, the reduction of GO to graphene and the generation of Ag nanocrystals on AgX occur simultaneously. We have demonstrated that the thus-produced Ag@AgX@Graphene nanocomposites could be employed as stable plasmonic photocatalysts to decompose acridine orange as a typical dye pollutant under sunlight irradiation. Compared with the bare quasi-spherical Ag@AgX, such graphene-interfaced cubic Ag@AgX nanocomposites display distinctly higher adsorptive capacity, smaller crystal size and reinforced electron–hole pair separation owing to the interfacial contact between Ag@AgX and graphene sheet components, resulting in an enhanced photocatalytic decomposition performance. This investigation provides new possibilities for the development of morphology-controlled plasmonic photocatalysts and facilitates their practical application in environmental issues.