title: Importance of Plasmonic Heating on Visible Light Driven Photocatalysis of Gold Nanoparticle Decorated Zinc Oxide Nanorods.
abstract: Herein we explore the role of localized plasmonic heat generated by resonantly excited gold (Au) NPs on visible light driven photocatalysis process. Au NPs are deposited on the surface of vertically aligned zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs). The localized heat generated by Au NPs under 532 nm continuous laser excitation (SPR excitation) was experimentally probed using Raman spectroscopy by following the phonon modes of ZnO. Under the resonant excitation the temperature at the surface of the Au-ZnO NRs reaches up to about 300 °C, resulting in almost 6 times higher apparent quantum yield (AQY) for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) compared to the bare ZnO NRs. Under solar light irradiation the Au-ZnO NRs demonstrated visible light photocatalytic activity twice that of what was achieved with bare ZnO NRs, while significantly reduced the activation energy required for the photocatalytic reactions allowing the reactions to occur at a faster rate.
authors.affiliation: Chair in Nanotechnology, Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 17, Al Khoud-123, Oman.
authors.forename: Tanujjal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bora
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Technikerstraße 21a, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zoepfl
authors.affiliation: Chair in Nanotechnology, Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 17, Al Khoud-123, Oman.|Functional Materials Division, Materials and Nano Physics Department, ICT School, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-164 40, Kista, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Joydeep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dutta