Faceted Crystal Nanoarchitectonics of Organic-Inorganic 3D-Printed Visible-Light Photocatalysts

Faceted Crystal Nanoarchitectonics of Organic-Inorganic 3D-Printed Visible-Light Photocatalysts

WoS Article

Facet-dependent photocatalytic properties are intrinsic characteristics of several inorganic semiconductors. Herein, faceted crystal engineering and 3D-printing technology have been combined for the fabrication of the first organic-inorganic 3D-printed visible-light photocatalyst prototypes. As a proof-of-concept, two facet crystal nanoarchitectonics have been devised by in situ synthesizing Ag3PO4 nano-architectures with tunable-amorphous and faceted-shapes upon 3D-printed graphene/polylactic acid (G/PLA) nanocomposite scaffolds through a green wet-chemistry approach. The facetdependent photoactivity performance of the resulting 3D-printed photocatalysts under visible light irradiation has been explored toward (i) the photodegradation of environmental pollutants (i.e., rhodamine B) and (ii) the indirect photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution from water splitting. Overall, the 3Dprinted G/PLA carrying facet-Ag3PO4 nanoarchitectures has displayed enhanced photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activity when compared to its amorphous-Ag3PO4 counterparts. Accordingly, the integration of inorganic semiconductors across low-cost 3D-printed G/PLA scaffolds under crystallization control represents a potential nanotechnological strategy toward the next generation of highly efficient organic-inorganic 3D-printed solar-light-driven photocatalysts, which might be mass-produced in a sustainable way, anywhere at any time.

Facet-dependent photocatalytic properties are intrinsic characteristics of several inorganic semiconductors. Herein, faceted crystal engineering and 3D-printing technology have been combined for the fabrication of the first organic-inorganic 3D-printed visible-light photocatalyst prototypes. As a proof-of-concept, two facet crystal nanoarchitectonics have been devised by in situ synthesizing Ag3PO4 nano-architectures with tunable-amorphous and faceted-shapes upon 3D-printed graphene/polylactic acid (G/PLA) nanocomposite scaffolds through a green wet-chemistry approach. The facetdependent photoactivity performance of the resulting 3D-printed photocatalysts under visible light irradiation has been explored toward (i) the photodegradation of environmental pollutants (i.e., rhodamine B) and (ii) the indirect photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution from water splitting. Overall, the 3Dprinted G/PLA carrying facet-Ag3PO4 nanoarchitectures has displayed enhanced photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activity when compared to its amorphous-Ag3PO4 counterparts. Accordingly, the integration of inorganic semiconductors across low-cost 3D-printed G/PLA scaffolds under crystallization control represents a potential nanotechnological strategy toward the next generation of highly efficient organic-inorganic 3D-printed solar-light-driven photocatalysts, which might be mass-produced in a sustainable way, anywhere at any time.

Ag3PO4; degradation; water splitting; 3D-printed electrodes; optoelectronics

Ag3PO4; degradation; water splitting; 3D-printed electrodes; optoelectronics

MUÑOZ MARTIN, J.; ROJAS TIZÓN, J.; PUMERA, M.

2023

28.03.2022

American Chemical Society

WASHINGTON

2574-0962

ACS Applied Energy Materials

5

3

United States of America

3252

3258

7

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsaem.1c03863

http://hdl.handle.net/11012/208480

MANUSCRIPT 3DAg3PO4_REVISED
acsaem.1c03863_accepted