Unprecedented Ag–Cu2O composited mesocrystals with efficient charge separation and transfer as well as visible light harvesting for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Mesocrystals with highly ordered subunits can provide good charge transfer tunnels and more active sites for catalytic reactions. So far, single-component mesocrystals have been well-developed in metals or metal oxides in the past decades, but the construction of mesocrystals in nanocomposites has been a great challenge. Herein we demonstrated a simple, one-pot wet chemical strategy for the preparation of plate-like Ag–Cu₂O composited mesocrystals (CMCs) without any organic capping agent, which broke through the traditional dependence on organic capping agents for the synthesis of mesocrystals. As expected, these unprecedented Ag–Cu₂O CMCs displayed superior visible-light-driven photodegradation performance toward tetracycline solution compared to the core–shell Ag@Cu₂O and pure Cu₂O photocatalysts. The improved photocatalytic activity of Ag–Cu₂O CMCs could be ascribed to the synergistic effect of an ordered crystallographic orientation, the Schottky barrier and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) for simultaneously enhancing charge separation and transfer as well as visible light harvesting. This research might stimulate in-depth investigations on the exploration of new synthetic methods for the design and construction of novel composited mesocrystals.