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Research Highlight

Gold to the rescue: Coupling plasmonic Au with 2D MoS2 endows superior photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Tuning LSPRs of Au nanocages on 2D MoS2 can lead to a 40X increase in the hydrogen production rate
Tuning LSPRs of Au nanocages on 2D MoS2 can lead to a 40X increase in the hydrogen production rate

Scientific Achievement

The mechanism by which Au nanocages enhance photocatalytic water splitting on MoS2 to produce hydrogen 40X more effectively was revealed using ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy.

Significance and Impact

Exploiting plasmonic nanomaterials to greatly enhance the activity of photocatalysts presents a new strategy to increase the efficiency of solar energy harvesting and enable practical clean hydrogen production.

Research Details

  • Au nanocages with different localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) at 460, 680, and 750 nm were composited with 2D MoS2 flakes for photocatalytic water splitting.
  • Au nanocages with LSPR at 680 nm promoted ~40X the photocatalytic rate of 2D MoS2 with absorption edge at ~660 nm.
  • Time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy was conducted to identify the mechanisms behind the Au/MoS2 system.

  • The near field enhancement governs the LSPR process with the energy of surface plasmon transferred from Au to MoS2 to promote e-h excitation in MoS2, the efficiency of which reaches the maximum when the LSPR wavelength of Au matches the MoS2 absorption edge.

     

R. Peng, et al., Journal of Materials Chemistry A 11, 16714-16723 (2023).  DOI: 10.1039/d3ta01657a

Work performed at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences