Combination of au-ag plasmonic nanoparticles of varied compositions with carbon nitride for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of ibuprofen under visible light

Abstract

Au-Ag/g-C3N4 nanohybrids 2–3 were synthesized by the one-pot self-reduction of the organometallic precursor [Au2Ag2 (C6F5)4(OEt2 )2]n in the presence of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4 ), leading to two populations of alloyed Au-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) of different size and composition on the surface of g-C3N4, i.e., Ag-enriched Au-Ag NPs of smaller size and Au-enriched Au-Ag NPs of larger size. The combination of these two types of plasmonic NPs with g-C3N4 semi-conductor displays enhanced photocatalytic properties towards the degradation of ibuprofen under visible light by the increased charge carrier separation provided by the inclusion of the plasmonic NPs on g-C3N4 .