In-situ DRIFT investigation of photocatalytic reduction and oxidation properties of SiO@α-FeO core-shell decorated RGO nanocomposite.

In this work, SiO@α-FeO core-shell decorated RGO nanocomposites were prepared via a simple sol-gel method. The nanocomposites were prepared with different weight percentages (10, 30, and 50 wt %) of the SiO@α-FeO core-shell on RGO, and the effects on the structural and optical properties were identified. The photocatalytic reduction and oxidation properties of the nanocomposites in the gas phase were assessed through the reduction of CO and oxidation of ethanol using in-situ diffuse-reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT).

The production of an efficient visible light photocatalyst for CO oxidation through the surface plasmonic effect of Ag nanoparticles on SiO@α-FeO nanocomposites.

A process for the photo deposition of noble Ag nanoparticles on a core-shell structure of SiO@α-FeO nanocomposite spheres was performed to produce a CO photo oxidation catalyst. The structural analyses were carried out for samples produced using different Ag metal nanoparticle weight percentages on SiO@α-FeO nanocomposite spheres by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), UV-vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A computational study was also performed to confirm the existence of the synergic effect of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for different weight percentages of Ag on the SiO@α-FeO nanocomposites.