Quantum confinement chemistry of CdS QDs plus hot electron of Au over TiO2 nanowire protruding to be encouraging photocatalyst towards nitrophenol conversion and ciprofloxacin degradation

Solar light harvesting science is ascertained to be the topmost effective green technique in alleviating environmental pollutants. In this respect, we report a visible light active TiO2/Au/CdS QDs nanocomposite which manifested upgraded photocatalytic activity towards the transformation of 2-nitrophenol, 4-nitrophenol, and degradation of ciprofloxacin. Here, TiO2 nanowire is synthesized by a molten flux method with high product yield and crystallinity with organized dimensions. Au nanoparticles are successfully integrated in between TiO2-CdS composite by Reverse Turkevich method. The prepared composites are meticulously characterized by different physical and optoelectronic techniques to inspect the crystal structure, phase purity, optical properties, nanostructured morphology and electrochemical properties. The plasmonic direct hot electron transfer (DET) mechanism is confirmed from UV-Vis DRS spectra. The prepared composite produces 2.98 mA/cm(2) of current density under light irradiation. A Longer lifetime of electrons is found from Bode phase plot i.e. 97.4 mu s for TiO2/1%/Au/3%CdS QDs owing to the integrative cooperation effect of high aspect ratio of TiO2 nanowire, quantum size effect of CdS and the direct hot electron transfer by Au nanoparticle.