Natural assembly of a ternary Ag-SnS-TiO photocatalyst and its photocatalytic performance under simulated sunlight.

Natural assembly method was utilized to prepare a novel ternary Ag-SnS-TiO nanocomposite, in which TiO nanobelts were used as templates. The co-loading of Ag and SnS nanoparticles endows TiO nanobelts with enhanced photocatalytic capability, resulting from the broadened light absorption spectra and decreased band gaps. Comparing with raw TiO nanobelts and commercial Degussa P25, an improvement in photodegradation of simulated organic pollutants was successfully demonstrated due to the decreasing recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Our work presents a new strategy for the preparation of ternary TiO-based photocatalysts in the practical application of wastewater treatment.