1 research outputs found
Hollow Au–Cu<sub>2</sub>O Core–Shell Nanoparticles with Geometry-Dependent Optical Properties as Efficient Plasmonic Photocatalysts under Visible Light
Hollow
Au–Cu<sub>2</sub>O core–shell nanoparticles
were synthesized by using hollow gold nanoparticles (HGNs) as the
plasmon-tailorable cores to direct epitaxial growth of Cu<sub>2</sub>O nanoshells. The effective geometry control of hollow Au–Cu<sub>2</sub>O core–shell nanoparticles was achieved through adjusting
the HGN core sizes, Cu<sub>2</sub>O shell thicknesses, and morphologies
related to structure-directing agents. The morphology-dependent plasmonic
band red-shifts across the visible and near-infrared spectral regions
were observed from experimental extinction spectra and theoretical
simulation based on the finite-difference time-domain method. Moreover,
the hollow Au–Cu<sub>2</sub>O core–shell nanoparticles
with synergistic optical properties exhibited higher photocatalytic
performance in the photodegradation of methyl orange when compared
to pristine Cu<sub>2</sub>O and solid Au–Cu<sub>2</sub>O core–shell
nanoparticles under visible-light irradiation due to the efficient
photoinduced charge separation, which could mainly be attributed to
the Schottky barrier and plasmon-induced resonant energy transfer.
Such optical tunability achieved through the hollow cores and structure-directed
shells is of benefit to the performance optimization of metal–semiconductor
nanoparticles for photonic, electronic, and photocatalytic applications