Unprecedented Ag-Cu2O composited mesocrystals with efficient charge separation and transfer as well as visible light harvesting for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Mesocrystals with highly ordered subunits can provide good charge transfer tunnels and more active sites for catalytic reactions. So far, single-component mesocrystals have been well-developed in metals or metal oxides in the past decades, but the construction of mesocrystals in nanocomposites has been a great challenge. Herein we demonstrated a simple, one-pot wet chemical strategy for the preparation of plate-like Ag-Cu2O composited mesocrystals (CMCs) without any organic capping agent, which broke through the traditional dependence on organic capping agents for the synthesis of mesocrystals. As expected, these unprecedented Ag-Cu2O CMCs displayed superior visible-light-driven photodegradation performance toward tetracycline solution compared to the core-shell Ag@Cu2O and pure Cu2O photocatalysts. The improved photocatalytic activity of Ag-Cu2O CMCs could be ascribed to the synergistic effect of an ordered crystallographic orientation, the Schottky barrier and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) for simultaneously enhancing charge separation and transfer as well as visible light harvesting. This research might stimulate in-depth investigations on the exploration of new synthetic methods for the design and construction of novel composited mesocrystals.

Automated summary

Mesocrystals with highly ordered subunits offer good charge transfer tunnels and active sites for catalytic reactions. The construction of mesocrystals in nanocomposites has been a challenge, but a new wet chemical strategy was developed to prepare plate-like Ag-Cu2O composited mesocrystals without organic capping agents. The resulting Ag-Cu2O CMCs showed superior photocatalytic performance due to their crystallographic orientation, Schottky barrier, and localized surface plasmon resonance.