Preparation and Characterization of TiO2@SiO2-Ag Nanospheres Photocatalyst, and Investigation of Its Photocatalytic Activity on Methylene Blue

Abstract

Titanium dioxide shows a tremendous potential for the decomposition of organic pollutants under UV and visible light irradiation. In this study TiO₂ nanospheres @ mesoporous silica nanospheres (TiO₂@SiO₂) photocatalyst was synthesized by the sol-gel method. The synthesized TiO₂/SiO₂ photocatalyst was decorated by Ag nanoparticle. The decorated TiO₂@SiO₂–Ag photocatalyst by a hydrothermal method was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SEM results show that TiO₂@SiO₂–Ag nanospheres photocatalyst was uniformly formed. The EDS analysis proves that the nanospheres photocatalyst consists of Ti, Si, O and Ag. The TiO₂@SiO₂–Ag nanospheres photocatalyst exhibited better photocatalytic performance for degradation of methylene blue under direct UV illumination.    

Keywords

• Titanium dioxide,Core-Shell,Silver nanoparticles,Silica spheres

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