Drastic enhancement of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance over plasmonic Al@TiO2 heterostructured nanocavity arrays

作者：Li Zhao; Shi Li^*; Franklin Daniel; Koul Supriya; Kushima Akihiro; Yang Yang^*

来源：Nano Energy, 2018, 51: 400-407.

DOI：10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.06.083

• Aluminum
• TiO2
• Heterostructure
• Plasmonic
• Photoelectrochemical water splitting

Herein, we presented nonprecious plasmonic Al@TiO2 heterostructures for efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting by controllably isolating Aluminum (Al) nanoparticles (NPs) individually into TiO2 nanocavity arrays (NCAs). Compared with bare TiO2, the Al@TiO2 shows the most prominently enhanced PEC performance under solar light illumination. The significantly enhanced PEC activity of Al@TiO2 photoanode is attributed to the localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) induced electromagnetic field enhancement in UV-visible region and photoinduced hot carrier of Al NPs. Moreover, the naturally formed Al2O3 ultrathin layer can act as a protective layer by restraining Al NPs corrosion and reducing the surface charge recombination. This study reveals that a novel plasmonic system can be rationalized by forming isolated earth-abundant metal into the nanostructured semiconductor film with a highly ordered morphology, which opens a new paradigm for advanced catalyst design for PEC water splitting.

• 出版日期2018-9