Ternary Heterostructures Based on BaTiO₃/MoO₃/Ag for Highly Efficient and Reusable Photocatalytic Applications

Abstract This work shows the fabrication of an efficient ternary heterostructure photocatalyst by integrating ferroelectric BaTiO₃ (BTO) as the bottom layer, semiconductor MoO₃ as the middle layer and plasmonic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) as the top layer, respectively. The BaTiO₃/MoO₃/Ag (BMA) heterostructure exhibits a higher photodegradation and photocatalytic efficiency of 100% for rhodamine B (RhB) dye under a UV–Visible light illumination of 60 min when compared with its binary heterostructure counterparts BaTiO₃/Ag (BA) and MoO₃/Ag (MA). The increased photocatalytic activity in BMA heterostructure is attributed to its enhanced interfacial electric field due to the electric double layer formation at BTO‐MoO₃ and MoO₃‐Ag interfaces. The higher blueshift in the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak observed for the BMA heterostructure clearly indicates an increased electron transfer toward the top Ag NPs layer under optical illumination. The higher resistive switching (RS) ratio, the increased difference in voltage minima, and the improved photocurrent generation, as evident from the I–V characteristics, illustrate the enhanced charge carrier generation and separation in BMA heterostructure. A smaller arc radius observed for the Nyquist plot of BMA heterostructure clearly showcases its increased interfacial charge transfer (CT). The CT mechanism and reusability of the BMA heterostructure are also studied.