The highly efficient photocatalytic and light harvesting property of Ag-TiO(2) with negative nano-holes structure inspired from cicada wings

The negative replica of biomorphic TiO(2) with nano-holes structure has been effectively fabricated directly from nano-nipple arrays structure of cicada wings by using a simple, low-cost and highly effective sol-gel ultrasonic method. The nano-holes array structure was well maintained after calcination in air at 500 °C. The Ag nanoparticles (10 nm–25 nm) were homogeneously decorated on the surface and to the side wall of nano-holes structure. It was observed that the biomorphic Ag-TiO(2) showed remarkable photocatalytic activity by degradation of methyl blue (MB) under UV-vis light irradiation. The biomorphic Ag-TiO(2) with nano-holes structure showed superior photocatalytic activity compared to the biomorphic TiO(2) and commercial Degussa P25. This high-performance photocatalytic activity of the biomorphic Ag-TiO(2) may be attributed to the nano-holes structure, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) property of the Ag nanoparticles, and enhanced electron-hole separation. Moreover, the biomorphic Ag-TiO(2) showed more absorption capability in the visible wavelength range. This work provides a new insight to design such a structure which may lead to a range of novel applications.