Boosting Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Degradation Performance of Au Nanocatalysts Through O 2 Plasma Activation
Yanfei Lv, Tong Xu, Kaiwei Yan, Chenlong Wang, Bin ZhuABSTRACT
Gold (Au) nanocatalysts are promising for visible‐light‐driven environmental remediation, yet constructing highly active, stable Au catalysts for liquid‐phase pollutant degradation remains challenging. Herein, plasma activation was employed as an alternative to conventional calcination for TiO 2 ‐supported Au nanocatalysts. Under visible light, the O 2 plasma‐activated Au nanocatalyst degraded multiple organic pollutants by > 90%, with apparent rate constants over 1.6 times those of the calcined counterpart, and showed markedly superior cycling stability. Characterization revealed that O 2 plasma activation promoted Au dispersion, strengthened Au–TiO 2 interfacial interactions, and generated abundant interfacial active sites, accelerating electron transfer and reactive oxygen species generation while suppressing deactivation. This work highlights O 2 plasma activation in constructing high‐performance Au/TiO 2 and offers insights into designing plasmonic photocatalysts for water purification.