Fabrication of Ag/In₂O₃/TiO₂/HNTs hybrid-structured and plasma effect photocatalysts for enhanced charges transfer and photocatalytic activity

The purpose of this work designed hybrid-structured and plasma effect photocatalyst of Ag/In₂O₃/TiO₂/HNTs via sol–gel and photo-reduction methods. The structures, morphologies, optical and photoelectric performances of as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized via XRD, TEM, XPS, BET, UV–vis DRS, PL and photocurrents. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by degradation of TC. The results showed that the hybrid-structure and plasma effect can effectively cause the multi-transfer of electrons and increase the separation rate of electron and hole pairs which obtained high photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic degradation processes reveal that [rad]O₂ ⁻ and h⁺ are major active species.