Narrowing of lithium niobate band gap by fabricating Ag/MWCNT/LiNbO3 nanocomposites for solar—Driven photocatalysis applications

IF 3.8 3区材料科学 Q2 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Optical Materials Pub Date : 2025-04-14 DOI:10.1016/j.optmat.2025.117048

Chawki Awada, Mohd Al Saleh Alothoum, Marwah Al Ghareeb, Bakhtiar Ul Haq, Adil Alshoaibi, Abdullah Alshehab, Abdullah Aljaafari

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Abstract

In this work, we report for the first time the effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) loading on the structural and optical properties of LiNbO₃ (LN). Ag NPs and MWCNT were loaded using hydrothermal synthesis’ method of LN. The structural and optical properties of nanocomposites were studied using TEM, XRD, EDX, UV–Vis, Raman, and PL. The incorporation of Ag NPs and MWCNT showed a significant band gap narrowing. The band gap values extracted using Tauc plot equation for pure LN, Ag_0.05/LN, Ag_0.05/CNT_0.01/LN, and Ag_0.05/CNT_0.05/LN are 3.73, 3.25, 3.15, and 2.85 eV, respectively. A good correlation between PL and band gap values confirmed the synergetic effect between LN and Ag and MWCNT. The photocatalytic activities of Ag/CNT/LN nanocomposites were evaluated towards the photo-degradation of a complex organic dye such as reactive black 5 (RB5) under UV–visible light. The kinetic rate constant k was extracted with the values 3 × 10⁻³, 2.5 × 10⁻³,0.83 × 10⁻³, and 7.9 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹ for LN, Ag_0.05/LN, Ag_0.05/CNT_0.01/LN, and Ag_0.05/CNT_0.05/LN, respectively. It was confirmed that adding 5 % of Ag NPs and 5 % of MWCNT enhanced the photocatalytic activities of LN nanostructures. The lower values of k for Ag_0.05/LN and Ag_0.05/CNT_0.01/LN compared to LN and Ag_0.05/CNT_0.05/LN could be due to their large size and low crystallinity. The electronic structures and DOS of the nanocomposites were studied using density functional theory (DFT). The theoretical studies confirmed the narrowing band gap using different structures. The new nanocomposites will open the way for new solar-based applications.

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应用于太阳能驱动光催化的Ag/MWCNT/LiNbO3纳米复合材料缩小铌酸锂带隙

在这项工作中，我们首次报道了银纳米粒子（Ag NPs）和多壁碳纳米管（MWCNT）负载对LiNbO3 （LN）结构和光学性质的影响。采用水热合成法负载银纳米粒子和MWCNT。采用TEM、XRD、EDX、UV-Vis、Raman和PL等手段研究了纳米复合材料的结构和光学性能。结果表明，Ag NPs和MWCNT的掺入使带隙明显缩小。利用tac图方程提取纯LN、Ag0.05/LN、Ag0.05/CNT0.01/LN和Ag0.05/CNT0.05/LN的带隙值分别为3.73、3.25、3.15和2.85 eV。PL与带隙值之间的良好相关性证实了LN与Ag和MWCNT之间的协同效应。研究了Ag/CNT/LN纳米复合材料在紫外-可见光下对活性黑5 （RB5）等复杂有机染料的光催化降解活性。LN、Ag0.05/LN、Ag0.05/CNT0.01/LN和Ag0.05/CNT0.05/LN的动力学速率常数k分别为3 × 10−3、2.5 × 10−3、0.83 × 10−3和7.9 × 10−3 min−1。结果表明，添加5%的Ag纳米粒子和5%的MWCNT可以增强LN纳米结构的光催化活性。与LN和Ag0.05/CNT0.05/LN相比，Ag0.05/LN和Ag0.05/CNT0.01/LN的k值较低可能是由于它们的尺寸大，结晶度低。利用密度泛函理论（DFT）研究了纳米复合材料的电子结构和DOS。理论研究证实了使用不同的结构可以缩小带隙。新的纳米复合材料将为新的太阳能应用开辟道路。

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来源期刊

Optical Materials 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

6.60

自引率

12.80%

发文量

1265

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Optical Materials has an open access mirror journal Optical Materials: X, sharing the same aims and scope, editorial team, submission system and rigorous peer review. The purpose of Optical Materials is to provide a means of communication and technology transfer between researchers who are interested in materials for potential device applications. The journal publishes original papers and review articles on the design, synthesis, characterisation and applications of optical materials. OPTICAL MATERIALS focuses on: • Optical Properties of Material Systems; • The Materials Aspects of Optical Phenomena; • The Materials Aspects of Devices and Applications. Authors can submit separate research elements describing their data to Data in Brief and methods to Methods X.