Surface plasmon resonance triggered promising visible light photocatalysis of LiNbO ₃ ceramic supported Ag nanoparticles

Abstract

Abstract LiNbO 3 ceramic was fabricated using solid‐state reaction route. Silver nanoparticles (NPs) were loaded on LiNbO 3 at room temperature using silver nitrate and polyethylene glycol reagents, without the use of external heat and light energy. The X‐ray diffraction showed only LiNbO 3 phase in Ag‐loaded LiNbO 3 sample with no peak related to Ag metal due to small fraction of Ag loading. X‐ray energy diffraction spectroscopy elemental color mapping confirmed the uniform loading of Ag metal on LiNbO 3 particles. Ag metal was loaded in the form of NPs as visualized under transmission electron microscope. Ag NPs‐loaded LiNbO 3 showed enhanced absorption of visible light owing to the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The loading of Ag NPs had no effect on the band gap energy of LiNbO 3 ceramic. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy technique confirmed the metallic chemical state of Ag in Ag NPs‐loaded LiNbO 3 . Ag NPs‐loaded LiNbO 3 degraded 97% rhodamine‐B model dye from the solution when irradiated for 240 minutes under visible light. The dye degradation follows pseudo‐first‐order kinetic having k ‐value (kinetic rate constant) of as 0.013 min −1 . The • OH (hydroxyl) and (superoxide) radicals were the main active species behind the photocatalytic activity of Ag NPs‐loaded LiNbO 3 . Thus, Ag NPs‐loaded LiNbO 3 could be a potential material for degrading organic dyes from water.