1 research outputs found
Surface Plasmon-Driven Water Reduction: Gold Nanoparticle Size Matters
Water reduction under two different
visible-light ranges (λ
> 400 nm and λ > 435 nm) was investigated in gold-loaded
titanium
dioxide (Au-TiO<sub>2</sub>) heterostructures with different sizes
of Au nanoparticles (NPs). Our study clearly demonstrates the essential
role played by Au NP size in plasmon-driven H<sub>2</sub>O reduction
and reveals two distinct mechanisms to clarify visible-light photocatalytic
activity under different excitation conditions. The size of the Au
NP governs the efficiency of plasmon-mediated electron transfer and
plays a critical role in determining the reduction potentials of the
electrons transferred to the TiO<sub>2</sub> conduction band. Our
discovery provides a facile method of manipulating photocatalytic
activity simply by varying the Au NP size and is expected to greatly
facilitate the design of suitable plasmonic photocatalysts for solar-to-fuel
energy conversion