Fabrication of Ag/TiO2 nanotube array with enhanced photo-catalytic degradation of aqueous organic pollutant

In this paper, the fabrication of Ag/TiO2 nanotube arrays and their photo-catalytic activity have been studied. The SEM, TEM and XRD were performed to characterize the morphology and crystalline phase of the TiO2 nanotube array and Ag/TiO2 nanotube array. Ag nanoparticles with different loadings, which are aimed to suppress the electron–hole recombination so as to enhance the photo-catalytic oxidation efficiency, were systematically coated onto TiO2 nanotubes. The photo-catalytic activity of these nano-materials was evaluated by the degradation of two different pollutants: methyl orange and glyphosate. The effects of various parameters, such as the amount of the photo-catalyst, the illumination time, and pH value on the photo-catalytic oxidation activity, were studied.