Preparation of Mesoporous Ag-TiO2 Thin Films by a Simple Photocatalytic Deposition Method and Their Application as Photocatalyst

Catalytic degradation of organic dye pollutants has attracted extensive attention due to their high toxicity to water resources. In this report, a simple photo-assisted deposition method was successfully employed for the fabrication of Ag-TiO2 mesoporous thin film catalysts. The photocatalytic degradation of the typical organic dye Rhodannine B (RB) under UV light irradiation on the catalysts was investigated and the degradation process was monitored by UV-vis spectroscopy. It was found that such mesoporous TiO2 films exhibited good photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, the photocatalytic property of the TiO2 films could be tuned by the deposition of Ag particles. At an optimal Ag content (near 4 atom% of Ag), an enhanced catalytic efficiency for RB photodegradation was achieved.