Synthesis of a Self-assembled Dual Morphologies Ag-NPs/SrMoO4 Photocatalyst with LSPR Effect for the Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye

Morphology of photocatalyst has attracted many attentions due to its significant effect on photocatalytic properties. Herein, the effects of hydrothermal reaction conditions including time, temperature, and pH value on the morphology evolution as well as on the photocatalytic performance of SrMoO4 were investigated in detail. It was found that SrMoO4 had self-assembled dual morphologies (spherical and dumbbell shape) under the specific reaction conditions with time=24 h, temperature=200 degrees C, and pH=6.13. In order to enhance its photocatalysis further, the silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were well-dispersed uniform on the surface of as-prepared samples to obtain Ag-NPs/SrMoO4 composites by photoreduction method. It was determined that 3 %Ag-NPs/SrMoO4 had the first-class photocatalytic performance (eta=83.7 %, k(app)=0.05229 min(-1)) for the photodegradation of MB dye, which is similar to 2.52 times that of the bare SrMoO4 with dual morphology (eta=51.9 %, k(app)=0.02078 min(-1)) by comparison with the apparent first-order reaction rate constants. The photocatalytic performance was promoted by high efficiency of photo-induced carriers' separation based on the effect of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) of well-dispersed Ag-NPs.