Multi-functional silver nanoprism-titanium dioxide hybrid nanoarrays for trace-level SERS sensing and photocatalytic removal of hazardous organic pollutants

Rania Ziad; Soumya Columbus; Abdelaziz Elgamouz; Kais Daoudi; Abdel-Nasser Kawde; Krithikadevi Ramachandran; Mounir Gaidi

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2023.122701

Multi-functional silver nanoprism-titanium dioxide hybrid nanoarrays for trace-level SERS sensing and photocatalytic removal of hazardous organic pollutants

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2023 Sep 5:297:122701. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2023.122701. Epub 2023 Apr 3.

Authors

Rania Ziad¹, Soumya Columbus², Abdelaziz Elgamouz³, Kais Daoudi⁴, Abdel-Nasser Kawde⁵, Krithikadevi Ramachandran⁶, Mounir Gaidi⁷

Affiliations

¹ Pure and Applied Chemistry Group, Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates; Center for Advanced Materials Research, Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
² Center for Advanced Materials Research, Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: spal@sharjah.ac.ae.
³ Pure and Applied Chemistry Group, Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: aelgamouz@sharjah.ac.ae.
⁴ Center for Advanced Materials Research, Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; Department of Applied Physics and Astronomy, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: kdaoudi@sharjah.ac.ae.
⁵ Pure and Applied Chemistry Group, Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates.
⁶ Center for Advanced Materials Research, Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
⁷ Center for Advanced Materials Research, Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; Department of Applied Physics and Astronomy, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

PMID: 37054569
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2023.122701

Abstract

Owing to the excellent optoelectronic properties of metal nanoparticle-semiconductor interfaces; hybrid substrates with superior catalytic and sensing properties can be designed. In the present study, we have attempted to evaluate anisotropic silver nanoprisms (SNP) functionalized titanium dioxide (TiO₂) particles for multifunctional applications such as SERS sensing and photocatalytic decomposition of hazardous organic pollutants. Hierarchical TiO₂/SNP hybrid arrays have been fabricated via facile and low-cost casting techniques. The structural, compositional, and optical characteristics of TiO₂/SNP hybrid arrays were well elucidated and correlated to SERS activities. SERS studies revealed that TiO₂/SNP nanoarrays possess almost 288 times enhancement compared to bare TiO₂ substrates and 2.6 times enhancement than pristine SNP. The fabricated nanoarrays demonstrated detection limits down to 10^-12 M concentration levels and lower spot-to-spot variability of ∼ 11%. The photocatalytic studies showed that almost 94 and 86% of rhodamine B and methylene blue were decomposed within 90 min of visible light exposure. Besides, two times enhancement in photocatalytic activities of TiO₂/SNP hybrid substrates was also observed than bare TiO₂. The highest photocatalytic activity was exhibited by SNP to TiO₂ molar ratio of 1.5 × 10^-3. The electrochemical surface area and the interfacial electron-transfer resistance were increased with the increment in TiO₂/SNP composite load from 3 to 7 wt%. Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV) analysis revealed a higher RhB degradation potential of TiO₂/SNP arrays than SNP or TiO₂. The synthesized hybrids exhibited excellent reusability without any significant deterioration in photocatalytic properties over five successive cycles. TiO₂/SNP hybrid arrays were proved to be multiple platforms for sensing and degrading hazardous pollutants for environmental applications.

Keywords: Charge-transfer mechanism; LSPR; Methylene blue; Plasmonic; Rhodamine B.