Effects of the hybrid plasmonic Ag/SrTiO3 nanocubes for efficient photo-catalytic of H2 generation and RhB decomposition

Introduction: Designing a novel photocatalyst toward the photo-catalytic degradation of dye molecules and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) based on semiconductors has been drawn enormous attention as a potential strategy in the clean energy field and environmental treatment. Herein, a SrTiO3 (STO) nanocubes decorated with co-catalysts Ag nanoparticles (NPs) for H2 generation and organic dye Rhodamine B (RhB) photodegradation activity under UV and visible light irradiation was fabricated. Method: The crystallinity, morphology, and chemical components of the photocatalyst were characterized through X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), respectively. The optical properties were evaluated through the UV-Visible absorbance spectra. Results: As a result, the photo-catalytic performance of the obtained Ag/STO hybrid photocatalyst was higher than that of the pristine STO nanocubes due to i) the efficient charge separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-holes pairs; ii) the improvement of the light-harvesting efficacy in the visible light. The high photo-catalytic RhB decomposition of the achieved Ag/STO hybrid photo-catalytic was obtained compared to the pure SrTiO3 nanocubes under UV and visible light exposure. The H2 generation of Ag/STO photocatalyst was 2- and 12-time higher than that of the pure STO nanocubes under UV and visible light illumination, respectively. Conclusion: This study gives a general strategy for photocatalyst design towards water splitting for photo-catalytic H2 evolution and environmental deterioration.