1 research outputs found
Harnessing Hot Electrons from Near IR Light for Hydrogen Production Using Pt-End-Capped-AuNRs
Gold
nanorods show great potential in harvesting natural sunlight and generating
hot charge carriers that can be employed to produce electrical or
chemical energies. We show that photochemical reduction of PtÂ(IV)
to Pt metal mainly takes place at the ends of gold nanorods (AuNRs),
suggesting photon-induced hot electrons are localized in a time-averaged
manner at AuNR ends. To use these hot electrons efficiently, a novel
synthetic method to selectively overgrow Pt at the ends of AuNRs has
been developed. These Pt-end-capped AuNRs show relatively high activity
for the production of hydrogen gas using artificial white light, natural
sunlight, and more importantly, near IR light at 976 nm. Tuning of
the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) wavelength of AuNRs changes the
hydrogen gas production rate, indicating that SPR is involved in hot
electron generation and photoreduction of hydrogen ions. This study
shows that gold nanorods are excellent for converting low-energy photons
into high-energy hot electrons, which can be used to drive chemical
reactions at their surfaces