Tailoring plasmonic size in Au/WO3 photonic crystals for photoelectrochemical water splitting and pharmaceutical degradation
Maria-Athina Apostolaki, Marios-Konstantinos Christoforou, Elias Sakellis, Polychronis Tsipas, Vassilis Psycharis, Spiros Gardelis, Vlassis Likodimos
TL;DR
This paper shows how adjusting the size of gold nanoparticles in a structured WO3 material improves both water splitting and pollution cleanup.
Contribution
The novel integration of plasmonic size effects with photonic crystal structures enhances photoelectrochemical performance.
Findings
20 nm Au NPs optimize photocurrent generation through near-field enhancement and carrier generation.
5 nm Au NPs show highest activity in ibuprofen degradation due to efficient electron transfer and Fermi level shift.
Abstract
Integrating plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) into semiconductor metal oxides and structuring them as photonic crystals have been two effective strategies to develop robust photo(electro)catalysts with improved light harvesting and suppressed electron–hole recombination. In this work, Au-decorated WO3 inverse opal photoanodes were engineered to synergistically exploit plasmonic, photonic, and charge transfer effects for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting and the degradation of pharmaceutical pollutants. The WO3 inverse opal scaffolds, fabricated via colloidal co-assembly, functioned as visible light photonic crystals, enabling slow photon effects by aligning their photonic band gap with the absorption edge of WO3 and the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Au NPs. Au NPs of varying sizes (5–80 nm) were incorporated post-synthetically to tailor plasmonic behavior and…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAdvanced Photocatalysis Techniques · Iron oxide chemistry and applications · Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods