Sandwiched ZnO@Au@Cu₂O Nanorod Films as Efficient Visible-Light-Driven Plasmonic Photocatalysts

Abstract

The design of efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts has become a hot topic due to their potential applications in energy and environmental industries. In this work, sandwiched ZnO@Au@Cu2O nanorod films were prepared on stainless steel mesh substrates in the order of the following steps: electrodeposition, sputtering, and second electrodeposition. The as-synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-visible spectrophotometry, respectively. Due to their coaxial structure to inhibit the carrier recombination and the localized surface plasmon resonance effect of Au nanoparticles to enhance the visible light absorption, an outstanding visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance is realized. The enhancement magnitude of Au nanoparticles on the catalytic performance of ZnO@Au@Cu2O was estimated as a function of the Cu2O loading amount. The corresponding enhancement mechanism was also explained according to the photocatalytic results under monochromatic visible light irradiation, the active species trapping experiments, and discrete dipole approximation simulation results.

Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity via MoO2/BiOBr Nanohybrids under Visible and NIR light

“…The loading of metal nanoparticles (Ag, Au, Pt, Bi, etc.) with LSPR on semiconductor to construct plasmonic photocatalysts can prominently enhance photocatalytic activity by improving the light absorption and charge separation efficiency . However, even though the high photocatalytic activities could be obtained by applying above noble metals, their practical applications are restricted by their high cost and resource shortage.…”

ZnO/Cu2S/ZnO Multilayer Films: Structure Optimization and Its Detail Data for Applications on Photoelectric and Photocatalytic Properties

“…ZnO films attract much attention of researchers as potential ultraviolet (UV), blue and other visible optical device materials owing to their wide and direct band gap, about 3.1–3.3 eV [1,2,3,4]. Additionally, polycrystalline ZnO has been found for numerous interesting applications, such as piezoelectric transducers and transparent conducting films [5,6,7,8,9].…”

Morphologically controllable synthesis of core–shell structured Au@Cu2O with enhanced photocatalytic activity

“…However, noble metals NPs on the surfaces can be corrode in the process of photocatalysis, which will decrease the stability and activity of catalysts. Many reports regarding Au@Cu 2 O nanocomposites only focus on simple core-shell structure and ignore the shape-dependent effect [15,18]. However, it is well known that Cu 2 O has shape-dependent photocatalytic properties [16,17].…”