Enhancing hot electron generation and injection with plasmonic nanostructures

Wang, Xi, Yao, Kaili, Liu, Lihua, Liu, Changxu and Liang, Hongyan (2022) Enhancing hot electron generation and injection with plasmonic nanostructures. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 893. p. 162214. ISSN 0925-8388

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2021.162214

Abstract

Constructing plasmonic-semiconductor nanoarchitecture provides a photocatalytic platform for enhancing solar energy conversion. The excitation and extraction of energetic carriers are critical for improving energy efficiency, which can be affected by the geometric features of plasmonic structures. An extensive study on morphology dependent hot electron utilization is desirable but challenging. In this paper, we applied photocurrent response from the microscale reaction region on Au-TiO2 photoanode to evaluate the influence of plasmonic morphology in water splitting. We compared the photocurrent of two structures, gold nanospheres and nanorods, under visible illumination. We experimentally proved that the nanorods demonstrate better energy performance. The possible origins of this enhancement are ascribed to the sharp curvature at tips, where strong hot spots boost the generation and injection efficiency of hot electrons. These results may pave a way for a rational geometry design for plasmonic enhanced photocatalysis.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC No. 51771132). Hongyan Liang was the primary funder. (China, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6623-6946)Funding information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC No. 51771132). Hongyan Liang was the primary funder. (China, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6623-6946)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Surface plasmons, Hot electron generation and injection, Au-TiO2, Photocatalysis
Subjects: F300 Physics
H600 Electronic and Electrical Engineering
H800 Chemical, Process and Energy Engineering
Department: Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering
Depositing User: Rachel Branson
Date Deposited: 18 Oct 2021 08:21
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2022 08:01
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/47496

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