Plasmonic Au nanoparticles supported on both sides of TiO₂ hollow spheres for maximising photocatalytic activity under visible light

Abstract

A strategy of intensifying the visible light harvesting ability of anatase TiO₂ hollow spheres (HSs) was developed, in which both sides of TiO₂ HSs were utilised for stabilising Au nanoparticles (NPs) through the sacrificial templating method and convex surface-induced confinement. The composite structure of single Au NP yolk-TiO₂ shell-Au NPs, denoted as Au@Au(TiO₂, was rendered and confirmed by the transmission electron microscopy analysis. Au@Au(TiO₂ showed enhanced photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methylene blue and phenol in aqueous phase under visible light surpassing that of other reference materials such as Au(TiO₂ by 77% and Au@P25 by 52%, respectively, in phenol degradation.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

TiO₂ hollow spheres / plasmonic Au nanoparticles / confinement / visible light / photocatalytic degradation

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Acknowledgements

We thank for the financial support from The University of Manchester through Higher Education Innovation Funded ‘Knowledge and Innovation Hub for Environmental Sustainability’. LL thanks the China Scholarship Council (CSC, file no. 201706950035)-University of Manchester joint studentship for supporting her Ph.D. research.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1815-2 and is accessible for authorized users.

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