Electrochemical Imaging of Photoanodic Water Oxidation Enhancements on TiO2Thin Films Modified by Subsurface Aluminum Nanodimers.
Detecting metal plasmonic enhancements on the activity of semiconducting photoanodes for water oxidation is often obscured by the inherent electroactivity and instability of the metal in electrolyte. Here, we show that thin TiO2photoanodes modified by subsurface Al nanodimers (AlNDs) display enhancements that are consistent with plasmon modes. We directly observed enhancements by mapping the oxygen evolution rates on TiO2/AlND patterns using scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) while exciting the surface plasmons of the nanodimers. This study highlights the importance of sample configuration for the in situ characterization of metal/photoanode interactions and suggests a route for Al-based plasmonics applied to photoelectrochemistry.
Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
Xuan
X
Zhou
Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
Zachary T
ZT
Gossage
Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
Burton H
BH
Simpson
Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
Jingshu
J
Hui
Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
Zachary J
ZJ
Barton
Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
Joaquín
J
Rodríguez-López
aluminum nanoparticles; oxygen evolution; scanning electrochemical microscopy; surface plasmons; thin film; water oxidation