Constructing a hybrid high-performance photocatalyst by selective laser precisely heating in nanoscale

Precisely constructing a composition-controllable functional material in nanoscale was of great challenge, the conventional chemical routes were hard to realize. In this work, using an effective approach of selective laser heating (SLH) in liquid, a hybrid high-performance photocatalyst with the component precisely controllable and optimized ratio was successfully prepared. Taking the Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite fabrication as an example, the Ag nanospheres can be rapidly prepared and combined with TiO2 nanocrystalline under the proper laser selectively heating in ethanol solvent, and then the enhanced photocatalytic performances were displayed. The reaction rate constant of 0.152/min for the degradation of methylene blue and sterilization rate of 85.7% for bacteria inactivation towards staphylococcus aureus can be obtained, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic performances were attributed to the modification of Ag nanospheres induced the reduction of TiO2 bandgap and enrichment of oxygen contents, and thus the charge carriers can be facilely transferred to produce abundant reactive oxygen species on the surface of Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite. This work provided a simple and reliable strategy for the precise preparation of hybrid functional nanomaterials.