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Role of Silver Nanoclusters in the Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Samai Boby,
Chall Sayantani,
Mati Soumya Sundar,
Bhattacharya Subhash Chandra
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of inorganic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1099-0682
pISSN - 1434-1948
DOI - 10.1002/ejic.201800230
Subject(s) - cerium oxide , nanoclusters , photocatalysis , nanoparticle , cerium , nanocomposite , chemistry , chemical engineering , oxide , hydrothermal circulation , catalysis , nanotechnology , photochemistry , inorganic chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , engineering
We have designed a silver‐nanocluster‐supported cerium oxide nanoparticle composite (AgNC/CeO 2 ) to overcome the inapplicability of CeO 2 as a photocatalyst due to a large band gap. A hydrothermal‐based synthetic strategy was followed to prepare spherical cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO 2 NPs). The AgNCs were synthesized separately. In the final step, silver‐nanocluster‐supported CeO 2 nanoparticle composites were fabricated by simply mixing CeO 2 and various concentrations of AgNC and stirring for 48 hours. The as‐prepared AgNC/CeO 2 nanocomposites were employed as photocatalysts to study the degradation of the dye Acridine Red (AR) under UV light illumination. The results showed that the photocatalytic activities of the AgNC/CeO 2 were enhanced several times compared with pure CeO 2 NPs, even with a very low loading of AgNC (ca. 3 %). The increased catalytic activity of the AgNC/CeO 2 nanocomposites was interpreted mechanistically by including the participation of reactive oxygen species, and corroborated experimentally. Thus, the AgNCs provide a convenient approach to improving the photocatalytic activity of CeO 2 NPs.