Enhancement in the Photocatalytic Activity of Au@TiO2 Nanocomposites by Pretreatment of TiO2 with UV Light

A novel, efficient and controlled protocol for the synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of $Au@TiO_2$ nanocomposite is developed. $TiO_2$ (P25) was pretreated by employing UV light (${\lambda}$ = 254 nm) and the pretreated $TiO_2$ was uniformly decorated by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in presence of sodium citrate and UV light. UV pretreatment makes the $TiO_2$ activated, as electrons were accumulated within the $TiO_2$ in the conduction band. These accumulated electrons facilitate the formation of AuNPs which were of very small size (2-5 nm), similar morphology and uniformly deposited at $TiO_2$ surface. It leads to formation of stable and crystalline $Au@TiO_2$ nanocomposites. The rapidity (13 hours), monodispersity, smaller nanocomposites and easy separation make this protocol highly significant in the area of nanocomposites syntheses. As-synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by TEM, HRTEM, TEM-EDX, SAED, XRD, UV-visible spectrophotometer and zeta potential. Dye degradation experiments of methyl orange show that type I ($Au@TiO_2$ nanocomposites in which $TiO_2$ was pretreated with UV light) has enhanced photocatalytic activity in comparison to type II ($Au@TiO_2$ nanocomposites in which $TiO_2$ was not pretreated with UV light) and $TiO_2$ (P25). This shows that pretreatment of $TiO_2$ provides type I a better catalytic activity.