Zhouhao Zhu

In this work, Au/Bi₂O₃ was synthesized by loading Au nanoparticles (NPs) onto β-Bi₂O₃ by a simple solution reduction method. β-Bi₂O₃ was synthesized by a precipitation-thermal decomposition procedure, which results in significantly improved SERS detection limits down to 10⁻⁹ M for methylene blue (MB) and 10⁻⁷ M for methyl orange (MO) as probe molecules, comparable to those reported for the best semiconductor SERS substrates. In particular, further deposition of Au NPs (5.20% wt%) onto β-Bi₂O₃ results in a two-order-of-magnitude enhancement in detection sensitivity, achieving a detection limit of 10⁻¹¹ M for MB and 10⁻⁹ M for MO. Under ultraviolet/visible irradiation, the Au/Bi₂O₃ hybrids substrate exhibits superior self-cleaning ability due to its photocatalytic degradation ability which can be applied repeatedly to the detection of pollutants. The advanced composite substrate simultaneously achieved ultra-low mass loading of Au NPs, outstanding detection performance, good reproducibility, high stability and self-cleaning ability. The development strategy of low load noble metal coupled high performance semiconductor β-Bi₂O₃ to obtain nano-hybrid materials provides a method to balance SERS sensitivity, cost effectiveness and operational stability, and can be synthesized in large quantities, which is a key step towards commercialization and has good reliability prospects.

Based on the generalized gradient approximation of density functional theory, the geometric structure and electronic properties of the intrinsic Ti₃C₂ and Cu-, Pt-, Co-, Si-, F-, Cl- or Br-doped Ti₃C₂ are optimized, and the adsorption process of HCHO on the surface of the intrinsic Ti₃C₂ and doped Ti₃C₂ is calculated. The effects of adsorption energy, stability, DOS and doping on bond length were discussed. The results show that the adsorption energy of the intrinsic Ti₃C₂ crystal plane at the top site is the strongest, at −7.58 eV. The optimal adsorption sites of HCHO on various doping systems are Cu-Top, Pt-Top, Co-Top, Si-Hollow, Cl-Hollow, F-Bridge and Br-Hollow, respectively. Among the doped elements, anion (F, Cl, Br) doping at each adsorption site generally reduces the formaldehyde adsorption activity of the substrate; cationic doping (Cu, Pt, Co, Si) enhances the adsorption activity of the substrate for formaldehyde at most of the adsorption sites, indicating that the modification effect of anions on Ti₃C₂ is not as good as that of cations. The adsorption capacity of Si-doped Ti₃C₂ for formaldehyde was significantly improved. Compared with the intrinsic Ti₃C₂ crystal plane at the same adsorption site, the adsorption activity of HCHO was improved, and the highest adsorption energy was −8.09 eV.