Highly enhanced plasmonic photocatalytic activity of Ag/AgCl/TiO2 by CuO co-catalyst

The role of CuO as a co-catalyst was studied on plasmonic photocatalysis of Ag/AgCl/TiO2, and it was found that the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange and phenol under visible light was highly enhanced when CuO was incorporated into Ag/AgCl/TiO2. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV/vis spectrophotometry. The photocatalytic activity under visible light was attributed to the SPR of Ag NPs, and enhancement of this activity was achieved due to CuO, which acts as a sink for photogenerated electrons.