Herein, we present the effectiveness of using an atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma torch for gold (Au) nanoparticle (NP) decoration of TiO₂ nanoparticles and nanotubes (NTs). Au NPs were synthesised using an aerosol of HAuCl₄·3H₂O solution that was carried with an inert gas to the near plasma post-discharge zone. Careful optimisation of the deposition parameters was done to ensure the uniform and dispersed decoration of TiO₂, demonstrated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction was used to confirm that the deposit was pure metallic Au. Unlike the bare TiO₂ nanoparticles, the samples with Au NPs showed the plasmon resonance peak in the region of 500–600 nm. The photocatalytic property enhancement of Au NP decorated TiO₂ structures was demonstrated: The TiO₂ NPs@Au nanoparticular powder showed improved photocatalytic activity by enabling methyl orange dye degradation 35% faster than that of the pristine TiO₂ NPs; superior photocatalytic behaviour of TiO₂ NTs@Au thin films compared to bare TiO₂ NTs was observed in the photodegradation of stearic acid.

中文翻译：

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使用大气压冷等离子体对纳米颗粒和纳米管 TiO2 进行金纳米颗粒装饰，用于光催化应用


在此，我们展示了使用大气压介质阻挡放电（DBD）等离子体炬对TiO ₂纳米颗粒和纳米管（NT）进行金（Au）纳米颗粒（NP）装饰的有效性。使用HAuCl ₄ ·3H ₂ O溶液的气溶胶合成Au NP，该气溶胶由惰性气体携带至近等离子体后放电区。通过扫描和透射电子显微镜与能量色散光谱法对沉积参数进行了仔细的优化，以确保 TiO ₂的均匀和分散的装饰。 X射线衍射用于证实沉积物是纯金属Au。与裸露的 TiO ₂纳米颗粒不同，含有 Au NP 的样品在 500-600 nm 区域显示出等离子共振峰。证明了Au NP修饰的TiO ₂结构的光催化性能增强：TiO ₂ NP@Au纳米粒子粉末表现出更好的光催化活性，使甲基橙染料降解速度比原始TiO ₂ NP快35％；在硬脂酸的光降解过程中，观察到 TiO ₂ NTs@Au 薄膜比裸露的 TiO ₂ NTs 具有更优异的光催化性能。