Two-step photochemical inorganic approach to the synthesis of Ag-CeO2 nanoheterostructures and their photocatalytic activity on tributyltin degradation

Herein, we report a simple, sustainable and low-cost approach to design Ag-CeO2 nanoheterostructures in pure aqueous and ethanol containing aqueous solutions via photochemical UV-light driven process with no capping agents nor stabilizers required. To this end, photochemically synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles were applied as photoactive compounds in order to generate formation of metallic silver nanoparticles. Irradiation of deaerated CeO2 suspensions in the presence of Ag+ resulted in the rise of a strong surface plasmon resonance band with a maximum at 393-422 nm in the absorption spectra of the solutions, indicating formation of small metallic silver particles. Faster formation of Ag nanoparticles with the lower amount of silver precursor being required was observed when ethanol was introduced to the reaction solution before the irradiation. This implies that oxidative reactions can be strongly suppressed in deaerated ethanol containing solutions with respect to the pure aqueous media. Not only was the overall efficiency of the process remarkably increased by the use of alcohol, but also smaller and more uniform silver nanoparticles with a size comparable to that of ceria nanoparticles (around 15 nm) were formed when compared to those synthesized without radical scavengers as revealed by TEM analysis. The proposed photochemical approach enables the production of silver-semiconductor system without employing organic stabilizers, thus resulting in formation of nanoparticles with clean, highly reactive metal surface. The as-synthesized silver-ceria nanoheterostructures demonstrated enhanced visible light driven photocatalytic activity on tributyltin (TBT) degradation if compared to pure ceria nanoparticles. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.