Abstract
Photocatalytic degradation, as an emerging method to control environmental pollution, is considered one of the most promising environmental purification technologies. As Tibet is a region with some of the strongest solar radiation in China and even in the world, it is extremely rich in solar energy resources, which is ideal for applying photocatalytic technology to its ecological environment protection and governance. In this study, Na2Ti3O7 nanobelts were prepared via a hydrothermal method and converted to TiO2∙xH2O ion exchange, which was followed by high-temperature calcination to prepare TiO2(B) nanobelts (“B” in TiO2(B) means “Bronze phase”). A simple in situ method was used to generate Ag3PO4 particles on the surface of the TiO2 nanobelts to construct a Ag3PO4/TiO2(B) heterojunction composite photocatalyst. By generating Ag3PO4 nanoparticles on the surface of the TiO2(B) nanobelts to construct heterojunctions, the light absorption range of the photocatalyst was successfully extended from UV (ultraviolet) to the visible region. Furthermore, the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs in the catalyst was inhibited by the construction of the heterojunctions, thus greatly enhancing its light quantum efficiency. Therefore, the prepared Ag3PO4/TiO2(B) heterojunction composite photocatalyst greatly outperformed the TiO2(B) nanobelt in terms of photocatalytic degradation.
Highlights
The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is the ecological security barrier of China and the origin of many rivers in China and South Asia
Since Tibet is one of the regions with the strongest solar radiation in China and even the world, the abundant energy resource is ideal for applying photocatalytic technology to ecological environment protection and governance in Tibet [8–10]
Ag3 PO4 nanoparticles were generated on the surface of the TiO2 (B) nanobelts via a simple in situ method, thereby successfully constructing Ag3 PO4 /TiO2 (B) heterojunctions, which substantially enhanced the photocatalytic degradation performance of TiO2 (B)
Summary
Since Tibet is one of the regions with the strongest solar radiation in China and even the world, the abundant energy resource is ideal for applying photocatalytic technology to ecological environment protection and governance in Tibet [8–10]. TiO2 as a photocatalyst has a low utilization of solar radiation energy and insignificant photocatalytic performance [11–13]. Combining TiO2 with other narrow-band-gap semiconductor materials to construct heterojunctions can effectively enhance the photocatalytic performance of TiO2. Ag3 PO4 compounded with TiO2 can effectively enhance TiO2 photocatalytic performance, but most studies use common anatase phase TiO2 [16–19], and monoclinic Ag3 PO4 nanoparticles were generated on the surface of the TiO2 (B) nanobelts via a simple in situ method, thereby successfully constructing Ag3 PO4 /TiO2 (B) heterojunctions, which substantially enhanced the photocatalytic degradation performance of TiO2 (B)
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