Surface plasmon resonance-enhanced solar-driven photocatalytic performance from Ag nanoparticles-decorated Ti3+ self-doped porous black TiO2 pillars

The tiny Ag nanoparticles-uniformly decorated Ti3+ self-doped porous black TiO2 pillars (Ag-TPBTPs) are prepared, which show obvious surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and extend the photoresponse to visible light and near-infrared region (similar to 1500 nm). The Ag-TPBTPs exhibit excellent solar-driven photocatalytic activities by mineralizing of high-toxic 2,4-dichlorophenol (similar to 99%), which is three times higher than that of the pristine TiO2. The remarkable solar-driven photocatalytic performance can be ascribed to the porous pillars structure offering more surface active sites, the self-doped Ti3+ and SPR effect of Ag nanoparticles improving the utilization of solar light, and enhancing the spatial separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers. (C) 2018 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.