Abstract
Ag loaded TiO2 aerogels were synthesized by sol-gel and supercritical drying methods. Anatase-TiO2 phase was obtained after post-annealed at 400°C for 4 hrs in air. AFM image revealed that post-annealed sample at 400°C consisted by the rod-like particles with several hundreds nanometer. The colorless sample changed to dark brown after the UV irradiation, and returned to the initial state after the white light irradiation. The absorption spectra exhibited a little red shift after the UV irradiation, which may attribute to the appearance of metal Ag particles in TiO2 matrix. Due to the poor crystal quality and no aggregation for Ag+ during post-annealed process, no big wavelength tuning had happened as speculated based on particle size and surrounding media.
