Selective Deposition of Silver Oxide on Single-Domain Ferroelectric Nanoplates and Their Efficient Visible-Light Photoactivity

Graphical Pick a side : Ag 2 O was selectively deposited on the positive polar surface of ferroelectric PbTiO 3 (PTO) nanoplates by a photochemical reaction. Formation of Ag 2 O is attributed to the oxidation of freshly formed silver nanoparticles by oxygen during visible-light irradiation. The composite shows efficient photocatalytic performance, which may be caused by the ferroelectric polarization effect of the PTO nanoplate. In this work, single-crystal and single-domain PbTiO 3 nanoplates are employed as substrates to prepare Ag 2 O/PbTiO 3 composite materials through a photodeposition method. It is revealed that silver oxide nanocrystals with an average size of 63 nm are selectively deposited on the positive polar surface of the ferroelectric substrate. The possible mechanism leading to the formation of silver oxide is that silver ions are first reduced to silver and then oxidized by oxygen generation. The composite shows an efficient photodegradation performance towards rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO) under visible-light irradiation. Such highly efficient photoactivity can be attributed to the ferroelectric polarization effect of the substrate, which promotes the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes at the interface.