Uniform Ag/AgCl Necklace‐Like Nano‐Heterostructures: Fabrication and Highly Efficient Plasmonic Photocatalysis

Ag/AgCl necklace‐like nano‐heterostructures with an average diameter of 55 nm were prepared by a facile in situ oxidation process. As a result of the presence of multiple crystalline Ag nanowires with lots of grain boundaries, uniform Ag/AgCl necklace‐like heterostructures can be successfully obtained in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Ag and AgCl are evenly distributed in the necklace‐like structures, which were divided into a number of tiny units that consisted of Ag and AgCl and enabled easy electron transfer. In contrast, a loose Ag/AgCl structure with large particles was prepared without the addition of PVP. A formation mechanism of the Ag/AgCl nano‐heterostructures was proposed. Furthermore, the molar ratio of Ag and AgCl plays an important role in the photocatalytic activity of the nano‐heterostructures, which can be tuned simply. The results of photocatalytic investigations demonstrate that the Ag/AgCl heterostructures with an 85 % AgCl component have an excellent activity for the decomposition of organic pollutants and water splitting to produce oxygen.