Issue 8, 2017

Ternary silver chlorobromide nanocrystals: intrinsic influence of size and morphology on photocatalytic activity

Abstract

It is found that magnetic stirring can significantly influence diffusion of reaction species in high-viscosity solutions and thus the nucleation process of forming nanocrystals. This simple strategy, for the first time, has been successfully used to control the synthesis of phase-pure ternary silver chlorobromide (AgClxBr1−x) nanoparticles with varying sizes and morphologies while maintaining constant composition through co-precipitation reaction of Ag+ cations with both Cl and Br anions at different stirring rates. The as-synthesized AgClxBr1−x nanoparticles offer the unique opportunity to accurately study the dependence of their photocatalytic activity on particle size and morphology by taking photocatalytic decomposition of MB as an example: (1) in a solution with a high concentration of dissolved O2, particle size represents the dominating parameter and larger particles are more active than small particles; (2) with low concentrations of dissolved O2, particle morphology becomes more dominating and nanocubes (mainly bound by {100} surface facets) are more efficient than nanospheres (mainly bound by {111} surface facets) towards decomposition of MB molecules. The results provide an unprecedented insight into the rational design and synthesis of efficient photocatalysts.

Graphical abstract: Ternary silver chlorobromide nanocrystals: intrinsic influence of size and morphology on photocatalytic activity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
31 jan 2017
Accepted
08 mrt 2017
First published
09 mrt 2017

Mater. Chem. Front., 2017,1, 1534-1540

Ternary silver chlorobromide nanocrystals: intrinsic influence of size and morphology on photocatalytic activity

S. C. Abeyweera and Y. Sun, Mater. Chem. Front., 2017, 1, 1534 DOI: 10.1039/C7QM00046D

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