Strong localized surface plasmon resonance effects of Ag/TiO₂core–shell nanowire arrays in UV and visible light for photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Periodic arrays of silver/titanium dioxide (Ag/TiO2) open core-shell nanowires have been investigated as enhanced plasmonic photocatalytic structures. Sequential top-down nanofabrication processes based on nanoimprinting, oblique angle evaporation, and selective electrodeposition were employed for the fabrication of various TiO2-shelled Ag nanowire arrays. Numerical simulation proves that the periodic array of Ag/TiO2 core-shell nanowire structures enables strong localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which improves the electron generation and photocatalytic activities of the TiO2 shell. Enhanced photocatalytic performance was confirmed by the decomposition of methylene blue solution. Furthermore, the film composed of a Ag/TiO2 core-shell nanowire array shows photocatalytic reproducibility in the UV and visible light regions and mechanical robustness due to the periodic grating-like metal nanostructures. Our method allows reliable, controllable, and facile fabrication of large-scale plasmonic photocatalytic nanostructured films on various substrates such as glass, polymer, etc.

A nanocomposite p-type semiconductor film for possible application in solar cells: Photo-electrochemical studies

“…(4)), causes the absorption of photons to be enhanced. This is rationalized by the SPR effect or justified through a reflection/mirror-like mechanism of the silver layer [5,23,24], which ultimately increases the photon absorption in the whole spectral region (see Fig. 8B).…”

“…Since Ag usually enhances the activity of photocatalytic systems [5] -through the phenomenon known as Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) which increases the photon absorption and produces some hot (high energy) electrons [23,24], the silver effect on photoelectrochemical response of the composite photoelectrode will be also taken into consideration in the final part of this work.…”

A highly efficient nanostructured quinary photocatalyst for hydrogen production

“…Data presented in this table also reveal that the content of Ag decreases with the increase in the size of spheres, and its value is maximized in nanoplatelet zones. These Ag-enriched zones seem to be the origin of the SPR effect [21][22][23] and justify the enhancement of photon absorption witnessed for CZTSS at longer wavelengths (above 540 nm).…”

Facile synthesis of Ag@SiO2 core–shell nanowires on large scale

“…Up to date, some techniques have been developed to fabricate 1-D silver nanostructures including silver core-shell nanowires, for instance, polyol method [10], hydrothermal method [11,12], seed-mediated method [13,14], hydrothermal carbonization co-reduction technique [15] and microwave-assisted method [16,17]. New and exciting 1-D silver nanostructures, such as coreshell nanowires (coaxial nanocables) including Ag/SiO 2 [18], Ag/C [19,20], Ag/PVA [21,22] and Ag/TiO 2 [23], have been described. Recently, striped Au/Ag nanowires (NW) coated with a silica shell have been synthesized via sol-gel deposition for bioanalysis [24].…”