The loading effect of silver nanoparticles prepared by impregnation and solution plasma methods on the photocatalysis of Ga2O3

Ag loaded Ga2O3 (Ag/Ga2O3) photocatalysts for the reduction of CO2 with water have been prepared by impregnation (IMP) and two types of solution plasma methods (SPM1 and SPM2). Using X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopies, we have investigated the local electronic structures of Ag/Ga2O3 photocatalysts as well as the adsorption behaviors of CO2 during the reaction. Both Ag L3-edge and O K-edge XANES analyses reveal the Ag–Ga2O3 interaction, i.e., the charge-transfer from O atoms to Ag atoms, by demonstrating the decrease in the unoccupied Ag 4d-state density and increase in the unoccupied O 2p-state density. The strength of the interaction depends on the preparation method, and increases in the order of Ag/Ga2O3 (SPM2), Ag/Ga2O3 (SPM1) and Ag/Ga2O3 (IMP). In addition, FT-IR measurements have disclosed that Ag/Ga2O3 (IMP) obtains a larger amount of strongly basic sites as a result of the strongest interaction between Ag and Ga2O3. Although the amount of the adsorbed CO2 is different in each Ag/Ga2O3 sample, in the following formation process of bidentate formate species, no remarkable difference is detected among all samples. The bidentate formate species are likely to interact with H2O molecules to produce CO under photoirradiation, and this process would be affected by the strength of the Ag–Ga2O3 interaction, because this reaction hardly proceeds over Ag/Ga2O3 (SPM2) having the weakest Ag–Ga2O3 interaction.