@article{8c23157e401042d698e1b4d350c71a5a,
title = "Ternary Metal Chalcogenide Heterostructure (AgInS2-TiO2) Nanocomposites for Visible Light Photocatalytic Applications",
abstract = "Hybrid nanoarchitectures of AgInS2 and TiO2 photocatalysts were prepared by using a modified sol-gel method. The experimental results reveal that these nanocomposites display enhanced visible light absorption and effective charge carrier separation compared to their pristine parent samples (AgInS2 or TiO2). 0.5 wt % AgInS2 loading was found to be the optimum concentration for photocatalytic applications. More than 95% of doxycycline degradation was achieved within 180 min of solar light illumination. Similarly, the dopant concentrations at lower values (<2 wt %) exhibited 300 times higher H2 generation rate under visible light irradiation compared to AgInS2 and TiO2. The microbial strains (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) exhibited a 99.999% reduction within half an hour of simulated solar light illumination. The computational investigation was employed to understand the structural, electronic, and the dielectric properties of AgInS2 and TiO2 composites. The improved photocatalytic results are explained as a result of the decreased rate of exciton recombination. The current investigation opens up new insights into the use of novel ternary heterostructure nanocomposites for improved visible light activity.",
author = "Priyanka Ganguly and Snehamol Mathew and Laura Clarizia and {Kumar R}, Syam and Akinlolu Akande and Hinder, {Steven J.} and Ailish Breen and Pillai, {Suresh C.}",
note = "Funding Information: P.G. and S.K. would like to acknowledge the Institute of Technology Sligo President{\textquoteright}s Bursary for providing financial support (grant nos: PPRES052 and PPRES050 respectively). P.G., S.M., and S.P. would like to acknowledge access to Raman Spectroscopy and PL spectroscopy at Centre for Research in Engineering Surface Technology (CREST), FOCAS Institute, Dublin Institute of Technology, Kevin Street. The TEM imaging was carried out at the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory (AML) at the AMBER centre, CRANN Institute ( www.crann.tcd.ie/Facilities/Advanced-Microscopy-Laboratory.aspx ), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. AML is an SFI-supported imaging and analysis center. S.K. and A.A. are grateful to Prof. Stefano Sanvito for the FHIAIMS package. Computational resources have been provided by the supercomputer facilities at the Trinity Centre for High-Performance Computing (TCHPC) under the project code: HPC_16_00953 and Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) under the project code: is-phy001c. The authors would like to thank the reviewers for the constructive comments in improving the standard of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 American Chemical Society.",
year = "2020",
month = jan,
day = "14",
doi = "10.1021/acsomega.9b02907",
language = "English",
volume = "5",
pages = "406--421",
journal = "ACS Omega",
issn = "2470-1343",
publisher = "American Chemical Society",
number = "1",
}