Ag Nanowire-based Hierarchical Heteroassemblies: Fabrication And Photocatalysis

In this paper, hierarchical heteroassemblies made of interwoven Ag core nano- wires (NWs) and their surface-grown ZnO nanorods(NRs), ZnO nanosheets (NSs), ZnO branched nanorods (ZnO BNRs) or CdS nanotubes (NTs) are successfully prep- ared in large scale via a solution bottom-up strategy coupling with templating method. Briefly, heteroepitaxial growth of ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs) on ZnO seed-coated Ag NWs is first conducted to form carpenterworm-like heteroassemblies. Then, by temp- lating of which, ZnO BNR with exposed high-energy (001) planes, and CdS NT ass- emblies on Ag NWs are fabricated with preserved morphology through the secondary nucleation and growth processes. When evaluated with UV-induced photo-degrada- tion of Rhodamine B (RhB), the two heteroassemblies of Ag NWs/CdS NTs and Ag NWs/ZnO BNRs exhibit superior photocatalytic properties, due to the decisive roles of the synergistic effect of unique semiconductor/metal heterojunction and the hierar- chical carpenterworm-like morphologies, as well as (001) plane-dominant surface of ZnO BNRs and hollow interiors with doubled specific surface area of CdS NTs, all of which are attractive for highly efficient photocatalysis. The superior photocatalytic performances combined with the convenient low-cost recyclable utilization are indicative of their great potentials as advanced photocatalysts.