Highly stable and efficient Ag/AgCl@TiO2 photocatalyst: preparation, characterization, and application in the treatment of aqueous hazardous pollutants.

A new plasmonic photocatalyst of Ag-AgCl@TiO(2) was prepared by deposition-precipitation and photoreduction. This photocatalyst exhibited efficient photocatalytic activity for the degradation of 4-chlorophenol and photoreduction of Cr(VI) ion under visible light irradiation. Its high photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag nanoparticles, which were highly dispersed on the surface of Ag-AgCl@TiO(2). N(2) adsorption and desorption isotherm spectra, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to determine the correlation between the micro-structure and the catalytic properties of the as-prepared photocatalysts.