Plasmonic Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting with Visible Light

Joun Lee; Syed Mubeen; XIULEI JI; Galen D Stucky; Martin Moskovits

doi:10.1021/nl302796f

Back

Plasmonic Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting with Visible Light

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Plasmonic Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting with Visible Light

Joun Lee, Syed Mubeen, XIULEI JI, Galen D Stucky and Martin Moskovits

Nano letters, Vol.12(9), pp.5014-5019

2012

DOI: 10.1021/nl302796f

PMID: 22916955

View Online

Abstract

We report a plasmonic water splitting cell in which 95% of the effective charge carriers derive from surface plasmon decay to hot electrons, as evidenced by fuel production efficiencies up to 20-fold higher at visible, as compared to UV, wavelengths. The cell functions by illuminating a dense array of aligned gold nanorods capped with TiO2, forming a Schottky metal/semiconductor interface which collects and conducts the hot electrons to an unilluminated platinum counter-electrode where hydrogen gas evolves. The resultant positive charges in the Au nanorods function as holes and are extracted by an oxidation catalyst which electrocatalytically oxidizes water to oxygen gas.

Materials Science

Physics

Catalytic methods

Collective excitations (including excitons, polarons, plasmons and other charge-density excitations)

Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties

Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology

Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures

Exact sciences and technology

Methods of nanofabrication

Nanocrystalline materials

Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization

Nanotubes

Surface and interface electron states

Details

Title: Subtitle: Plasmonic Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting with Visible Light
Creators: Joun Lee - University of California, Santa Barbara
Syed Mubeen - University of California, Santa Barbara
XIULEI JI - University of California, Santa Barbara
Galen D Stucky - University of California, Santa Barbara
Martin Moskovits - University of California, Santa Barbara
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Nano letters, Vol.12(9), pp.5014-5019
Publisher: American Chemical Society
DOI: 10.1021/nl302796f
PMID: 22916955
ISSN: 1530-6984
eISSN: 1530-6992
Language: English
Date published: 2012
Academic Unit: Civil and Environmental Engineering; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Record Identifier: 9984197411302771

Metrics

14 Record Views

481 Times Cited - Web of Science

See more details