TY - JOUR
T1 - A soft-chemistry assisted strong metal-support interaction on a designed plasmonic core-shell photocatalyst for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production
AU - Gesesse, Getaneh Diress
AU - Wang, Cong
AU - Chang, Bor Kae
AU - Tai, Shih Hsuan
AU - Beaunier, Patricia
AU - Wojcieszak, Robert
AU - Remita, Hynd
AU - Colbeau-Justin, Christophe
AU - Ghazzal, Mohamed Nawfal
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Royal Society of Chemistry.
PY - 2020/4/7
Y1 - 2020/4/7
N2 - Engineering photocatalysts based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has attracted great attention for the solar energy conversion due to their multiple and unique properties. However, boosting the photocatalytic performance of plasmonic materials for H2 generation has some limitations. In this study, we propose a soft-chemistry method for the preparation of a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) to enhance the photocatalytic production of H2. The TiO2 thin overlayer covering finely dispersed AuNPs (forming an SMSI) boosts the photocatalytic generation of hydrogen, compared to AuNPs deposited at the surface of TiO2 (labelled as a classical system). The pathway of the charge carriers' dynamics regarding the system configuration is found to be different. The photogenerated electrons are collected by AuNPs in a classical system and act as an active site, while, unconventionally, they are injected back in the titania surface for an SMSI photocatalyst making the system highly efficient. Additionally, the adsorption energy of methanol, theoretically estimated using the density functional theory (DFT) methodology, is lower for the soft-chemistry SMSI photocatalyst accelerating the kinetics of photocatalytic hydrogen production. The SMSI obtained by soft-chemistry is an original concept for highly efficient photocatalytic materials, where the photon-to-energy conversion remains a major challenge.
AB - Engineering photocatalysts based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has attracted great attention for the solar energy conversion due to their multiple and unique properties. However, boosting the photocatalytic performance of plasmonic materials for H2 generation has some limitations. In this study, we propose a soft-chemistry method for the preparation of a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) to enhance the photocatalytic production of H2. The TiO2 thin overlayer covering finely dispersed AuNPs (forming an SMSI) boosts the photocatalytic generation of hydrogen, compared to AuNPs deposited at the surface of TiO2 (labelled as a classical system). The pathway of the charge carriers' dynamics regarding the system configuration is found to be different. The photogenerated electrons are collected by AuNPs in a classical system and act as an active site, while, unconventionally, they are injected back in the titania surface for an SMSI photocatalyst making the system highly efficient. Additionally, the adsorption energy of methanol, theoretically estimated using the density functional theory (DFT) methodology, is lower for the soft-chemistry SMSI photocatalyst accelerating the kinetics of photocatalytic hydrogen production. The SMSI obtained by soft-chemistry is an original concept for highly efficient photocatalytic materials, where the photon-to-energy conversion remains a major challenge.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082979536&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/c9nr09891g
DO - 10.1039/c9nr09891g
M3 - 期刊論文
C2 - 32100773
AN - SCOPUS:85082979536
SN - 2040-3364
VL - 12
SP - 7011
EP - 7023
JO - Nanoscale
JF - Nanoscale
IS - 13
ER -