title: 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.
authors: Department of Optoelectronic Science, Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai , Weihai 264209, People's Republic of China.
authors: Shoutian
authors: S
authors: Ren
authors: Benyang
authors: B
authors: Wang
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Zhang
authors: Peng
authors: P
authors: Ding
authors: Qiang
authors: Q
authors: Wang
keywords: ZnO@Au@Cu2O nanorod; electrodeposition; plasmonic photocatalyst; resonant energy transfer mechanism