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Visible light‐excited surface plasmon resonance charge transfer significantly improves the photocatalytic activities of ZnO semiconductor for pollutants degradation
Author(s) -
Yasmeen Humaira,
Zada Amir,
Ali Sharafat,
Khan Imran,
Ali Wajid,
Khan Waliullah,
Khan Muhammad,
Anwar Natasha,
Ali Asif,
HuertaFlores Ali M.,
Subhan Fazle
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the chinese chemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.329
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 2192-6549
pISSN - 0009-4536
DOI - 10.1002/jccs.202000205
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , surface plasmon resonance , photochemistry , chemistry , photoluminescence , degradation (telecommunications) , nanoparticle , semiconductor , excited state , nanocomposite , visible spectrum , chemical engineering , catalysis , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , materials science , organic chemistry , atomic physics , telecommunications , physics , computer science , engineering
To effectively address environmental pollution, we synthesized Au‐loaded ZnO nanocomposites and applied for the photocatalytic degradation of 2‐chlorophenol (2‐CP) under visible light irradiation. The as‐prepared nanophotocatalysts delivered much improved photocatalytic degradation activities as compared to the bare ZnO nanoparticles and 32% of the pollutant was degraded with 2AuZnO in 1 hr. These improved photoactivities are attributed to the extended visible light absorption due to the surface plasmon resonance property of the loaded Au nanoparticles. Moreover, Au nanoparticles played important role in charge separation by inducting excited electrons to the conduction band of ZnO photocatalyst and surface catalysis as confirmed from photoluminescence spectra and amount of the generated hydroxyl radicals. The trapping experiments confirmed that positive holes were the major degrading species during the photocatalytic degradation of 2‐CP. This work provides a feasible way to improve the photocatalysis by introducing a proper amount of noble metals over the surface of semiconductor photocatalysts.