Silver Nanocluster Anchored TiO₂/Nb₂O₅ Hybrid Nanocomposite as Highly Efficient and Selective Visible‐Light Sensitive Photocatalyst

Abstract

It is of great interest to find a suitable modification of noble metal nanocluster (NC) with an aim to get a profound change in physical and chemical properties. In the present study, a new class of hybrid nanomaterials were successfully synthesized by anchoring Ag nanocluster with TiO 2 /Nb 2 O 5 nanocomposite. Two synthetic strategies have been carried out to prepare these. Two steps synthetic strategy was found to efficiently decorate TiO 2 /Nb 2 O 5 with silver nanocluster whereas one step synthesis produced Ag/TiO 2 nanocluster with negligible Nb 2 O 5 content. The as-prepared materials were characterized by HRTEM, EDAX, FTIR, Raman and XRD. Visible light photo-catalytic activities of the as-synthesized hybrid nanomaterials were investigated for the degradation of some of the potentially hazardous organic dyes (Malachite green and Methyl orange). We observed much greater photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite for the degradation of Malachite green when silver nanocluster is anchored to the TiO 2 /Nb 2 O 5 as compared to the same materials with negligible Nb 2 O 5 content. Such observations indicate that the loading of Nb 2 O 5 in hybrid nanocomposite allowed the selective enhancement of the photocatalytic degradation of Malachite green.[a] Dr.

Role of transition metals in coinage metal nanoclusters for the remediation of toxic dyes in aqueous systems

“…The photocatalytic activities of the catalyst were determined by estimating the dye absorbance after photodegradation. 169 …”

Recent Progress on Ligand-Protected Metal Nanoclusters in Photocatalysis

“…Gowswami et al created a colloidal nanocomposite material with TiO 2 /Nb 2 O 5 conjugated to silver NCs and captopril as a ligand. They varied the niobium loading in the incorporated product to investigate the adhesion of the material towards cationic and anionic dyes, as well as their photodegradation capability [ 118 ]. As per the analysis, the mentioned nanocomposite with 48.1% niobium loading and Ag NCs resulted in a ternary junction, which narrowed down the recombination rates and surface acidity caused the Ag NC ligands’ end groups to polarize COO − , thereby attracting the cationic dyes for an effective 100% degradation with a high photostability.…”

Supercapacitive behaviour of a novel nanocomposite of 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid incorporated captopril-Ag nanocluster decorated on graphene nanosheets

“…The nanocomposite TiO 2 /Nb 2 O 5 /Capt-AgNC used here was synthesized by following the method reported elsewhere. 27 The detailed synthetic methods of these materials are described in the supporting information. The as prepared Nb…”

“…Captopril is one such suitable biocompatible ligand for the facile synthesis of a metal (Ag) nanocluster which has been explored by our group earlier. 26,27 The metal nanoclusters owing to their ultrasmall size when incorporated into GNS along with the OSC molecule can not only act as a nanospacer, but also display several simultaneous coexisting properties, e.g., optical sensing, electrochemical sensing, catalysis, electrical conductivity, and specific capacitance. One of the unique properties of a noble metal nanocluster which could be cleverly utilized is its tunable emission properties with suitable modification of its ligand shell.…”