Iridium Oxide-Assisted Plasmon-Induced Hot Carriers: Improvement on Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Hot Carriers
Journal
Advanced Energy Materials
Journal Volume
6
Journal Issue
8
Date Issued
2016
Author(s)
Abstract
Plasmonic nanostructures are capable of driving photocatalysis through absorbing photons in the visible region of the solar spectrum. Unfortunately, the short lifetime of plasmon-induced hot carriers and sluggish surface chemical reactions significantly limit their photocatalytic efficiencies. Moreover, the thermodynamically favored excitation mechanism of plasmonic photocatalytic reactions is unclear. The mechanism of how the plasmonic catalyst could enhance the performance of chemical reaction and the limitation of localized surface plasmon resonance devices is proposed. In addition, a design is demonstrated through co-catalyst decorated plasmonic nanoparticles Au/IrOX upon a semiconductor nanowire-array TiO2 electrode that are able to considerably improve the lifetime of plasmon-induced charge-carriers and further facilitate the kinetics of chemical reaction. A thermodynamically favored excitation with improved kinetics of hot carriers is revealed through electrochemical studies and characterization of X-ray absorption spectrum. This discovery provides an opportunity to efficiently manage hot carriers that are generated from metal nanostructures through surface plasmon effects for photocatalysis applications. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Subjects
nanostructures; photoelectrochemical; plasmon resonance; thermodynamics; water splitting
SDGs
Other Subjects
Absorption spectroscopy; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemical reactions; Gold; Hot carriers; Kinetics; Nanostructures; Photocatalysis; Reaction kinetics; Surface plasmon resonance; Surface reactions; Thermodynamics; X ray absorption; Kinetics and thermodynamics; Localized surface plasmon resonance; Photocatalytic efficiency; Photocatalytic reactions; Photoelectrochemicals; Plasmon resonances; Surface chemical reactions; Water splitting; Plasmons
Type
journal article