Plasmonic metallic silver induced Bi2WO6/TiO2 ternary junction towards the photocatalytic, electrochemical OER/HER, antibacterial and sensing applications

Abstract

The plasmonic metal-induced Bi2WO6/TiO2 ternary composite with unique electronic and structural properties was synthesized via a hydrothermal and chemical reduction route for sustainable energy and environmental remediation. The obtained Bi2WO6/TiO2-Ag (BWTA) exhibited a tremendous catalytic activity for Rhodamine B photodegradation (0.947 × 10-2 min−1) than those of sole TiO2 and Bi2WO6 specimens. The radical trapping experiment discloses that superoxide .O2− and holes (h+) are the cardinal active species in the photocatalytic system. Further, recycling experiment was conducted to elucidate the stability of the photocatalyst. BWTA2.0 was able to produce 2.1330 mA/cm2 of current density for oxygen evolution reaction and −1.5003 mA/cm2 for hydrogen evolution reaction, which is much higher than those of other specimens. Besides, electrochemical detection of dopamine (DA) was performed through cyclic voltammetry; results showed that the ternary composite had better electrocatalytic activity for DA detection owing to the synergistic effects of noble metal incorporation into the semiconductor. Also, the antibacterial potential of the specimens was explored against Escherichia coli through the well-diffusion method. In terms of experimental results, a possible mechanism of ternary composite is thoroughly elucidated. Thus, this work validates that, plasmonic induced ternary composite has a great prospect for photocatalytic, electrochemical, sensing, and antibacterial applications.