Synergy of Au–Pt for Enhancing Ethylene Photodegradation Performance of Flower-like TiO2

Abstract

Efficient and low-cost degradation of ethylene has always been a difficult problem in the storage and transportation of fruits and vegetables. Although photocatalysis is considered to be a feasible and efficient solution for ethylene degradation, the low degradation ability of conventional catalysts for small non-polar molecules limits its application. TiO2 has the advantage of tunable microstructure, but it also has the defects of wide band gap and low utilization of sunlight. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of noble metals can effectively improve the visible light absorption range of catalysts, and the synergy of noble metals further enhances the photocatalytic ability. Herein, we developed a series of AuPt catalysts through the photo-deposition method. Benefited from the SPR effect and the synergy of Au and Pt, the efficiency of AuPt–TiO2 was 19.9, 4.64 and 2.42 times that of TiO2, Au–TiO2 and Pt–TiO2, and the photocatalytic degradation ability of AuPt–TiO2 was maintained in five cyclic stability tests. Meanwhile, the transient photocurrent spectra and PL spectra proved that the light absorption capacity and carrier separation efficiency of AuPt–TiO2 were enhanced. This work provides a new direction for enhancing non-polar small-molecule photodegradation of semiconductors.