Facile and controllable synthesis of Zn-Al layered double hydroxide/silver hybrid by exfoliation process and its plasmonic photocatalytic activity of phenol degradation

Photocatalysts have attracted interest in the applications of green technology due to its efficiency to eliminate detrimental substances under light irradiation. Various design strategies to enhance the efficiency of photocatalytic processes under solar irradiation is actively searched. Building on the idea to provide a better synthesis method of photocatalyst, this study explores an effective and simple synthesis strategy of Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) silver hybrid for photocatalyst phenol degradation. Unlike the common photodeposition method that incorporates noble metal nanoparticle on the LDH surface, this study discovered a pathway of intercalation of Ag nanoparticle into LDH interlayer space by exfoliation route. Notably, the synthesized ZnAl LDH/Ag contents of several phases: Zn2.5Al(OH)(6.5)O-0.5(DS)(0)Ag-.5(0).3, Zn2.5Al(OH)(7) (HDS)(0.5)(DS)(1.5), Zn2.5Al(OH)(6)O-.3(2)0(.6)8(CO3)(0)Ag-.1(6)0.03, Zn2Al(OH)(5.32)O-0.68(CO3)(0.16). A preliminary demonstration of the concept was given by the efficient photocatalytic degradation of phenol with a resulting conversion ratio of phenol under light (Xe lamp, > 340-nm cut-off filter) irradiation by 80 % in 210 min. These findings provide a new strategy to incorporate noble metal nanoparticles into LDH interlayer space as a great potential for photocatalyst.