Surface plasmon resonance enhanced photocatalysis of Ag nanoparticles-decorated Bi2S3 nanorods for NO degradation

Photocatalysis is an emerging tool used for the reduction of air pollutants. In the atmosphere, nitrogen oxide (NO) is one of the leading pollutants because of its detrimental effects on flora and fauna. This work introduces the photocatalytic NO degradation over Ag nanoparticles-decorated Bi2S3 nanorods. The XRD, FTIR, XPS, SEM, EDS, and TEM demonstrate the existence of the materials, with the morphology of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) loading on Bi2S3 nanorods. The increase in surface area and pore volume of Bi2S3 nanorods thanks to Ag is confirmed by nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm using BET. The NO removal efficiency over 3% [email protected]2S3 is 31.12%, while that of pure Bi2S3 is only 11.65%. The band bending and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) enhance the photocatalytic activity are confirmed by DRS and Mott–Schottky plot. The high stability of materials were surveyed by recycle test, XRD, and FTIR. The ESR and trapping experiments support to determine the unique photocatalytic mechanism of [email protected]2S3 via •HO2 radicals. This study provides an unique understanding about of [email protected]2S3 for nitrogen oxides (NOx) degradation under solar light.