Highly Efficient Visible Light Plasmonic Photocatalyst Ag@Ag(Br,I)

The new plasmonic photocatalyst Ag@Ag(Br,I) was synthesized by the ion-exchange process between the silver bromide and potassium iodide, then by reducing some Ag+ ions in the surface region of Ag(Br,I) particles to Ag-0 species. Ag nanoparticles are formed from Ag(Br,I) by the light-induced chemical reduction reaction. The Ag@Ag(Br,I) particles have irregular shapes with their sizes varying from 83 nm to 1 mu m. The as-grown plasmonic photocatalyst shows strong absorption in the visible light region because of the plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles. The ability of this compound to reduce Cr-VI under visible light was compared with those of other reference photocatalyst. The plasmonic photocatalyst is shown to be highly efficient under visible light. The stability of the photocatalyst was examined by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The XRD pattern and XPS spectra prove the stability of the plasmonic photocatalyst Ag@Ag(Br,I).