Aluminum plasmonic photocatalysis.
The effectiveness of photocatalytic processes is dictated largely by plasmonic materials with the capability to enhance light absorption as well as the energy conversion efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate how to improve the plasmonic photocatalytic properties of TiO2/Al nano-void arrays by overlapping the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) modes with the TiO2 band gap. The plasmonic TiO2/Al arrays exhibit superior photocatalytic activity boasting an enhancement of 7.2 folds. The underlying mechanisms concerning the radiative energy transfer and interface energy transfer processes are discussed. Both processes occur at the TiO2/Al interface and their contributions to photocatalysis are evaluated. The results are important to the optimization of aluminum plasmonic materials in photocatalytic applications.
Department of Physics and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Advanced Metallic Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, P. R. China.|Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R. China.
Qi
Q
Hao
Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R. China.|Southwestern Institute of Physics, Chengdu 610041, China.
Chenxi
C
Wang
Department of Physics and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Advanced Metallic Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, P. R. China.
Hao
H
Huang
Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R. China.
Wan
W
Li
Department of Physics and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Advanced Metallic Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, P. R. China.
Deyang
D
Du
Department of Physics and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Advanced Metallic Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, P. R. China.
Di
D
Han
Department of Physics and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Advanced Metallic Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, P. R. China.
Teng
T
Qiu
Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R. China.
Paul K
PK
Chu