Hybrid nanoarchitectures of AgInS2 and TiO2 photocatalysts were prepared by using a modified sol-gel method. The experimental results reveal that these nanocomposites display enhanced visible light absorption and effective charge carrier separation compared to their pristine parent samples (AgInS2 or TiO2). 0.5 wt % AgInS2 loading was found to be the optimum concentration for photocatalytic applications. More than 95% of doxycycline degradation was achieved within 180 min of solar light illumination. Similarly, the dopant concentrations at lower values (<2 wt %) exhibited 300 times higher H2 generation rate under visible light irradiation compared to AgInS2 and TiO2. The microbial strains (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) exhibited a 99.999% reduction within half an hour of simulated solar light illumination. The computational investigation was employed to understand the structural, electronic, and the dielectric properties of AgInS2 and TiO2 composites. The improved photocatalytic results are explained as a result of the decreased rate of exciton recombination. The current investigation opens up new insights into the use of novel ternary heterostructure nanocomposites for improved visible light activity.

中文翻译：

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用于可见光光催化应用的三元金属硫族化物异质结构（AgInS2-TiO2）纳米复合材料。

采用改进的溶胶-凝胶法制备了AgInS2和TiO2光催化剂的杂化纳米结构。实验结果表明，与它们的原始母体样品（AgInS2或TiO2）相比，这些纳米复合材料显示出增强的可见光吸收和有效的载流子分离。发现0.5重量％的AgInS 2负载是光催化应用的最佳浓度。在太阳光照射下180分钟内，多西环素的降解率超过95％。类似地，与AgInS 2和TiO 2相比，在较低值（<2 wt％）下的掺杂剂浓度在可见光照射下显示出较高的H 2生成速率300倍。微生物菌株（大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌）在模拟太阳光照射的半小时内显示减少了99.999％。通过计算研究来了解AgInS2和TiO2复合材料的结构，电子和介电性能。由于激子复合速率降低，可以解释改善的光催化结果。当前的研究为新型三元异质结构纳米复合材料用于改善可见光活性开辟了新的见解。