Semiconducting Metal Oxide Photonic Crystal Plasmonic Photocatalysts. Issue 8 (24th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Collins, Gillian; Lonergan, Alex; McNulty, David; Glynn, Colm; Buckley, Darragh; Hu, Changyu; O'Dwyer, Colm
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials interfaces. Volume 7:Issue 8(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-02-24
• Subjects: catalyst -- nitrophenol reduction -- photocatalysis -- photonic crystal -- plasmonic nanoparticles; Materials science -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/admi.201901805
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2196-7350

Abstract

Abstract: Plasmonic photocatalysis has facilitated rapid progress in enhancing photocatalytic efficiency under visible light irradiation. Poor visible‐light‐responsive photocatalytic materials and low photocatalytic efficiency remain major challenges. Plasmonic metal–semiconductor heterostructures where both the metal and semiconductor are photosensitive are promising for light harvesting catalysis, as both components can absorb solar light. Efficiency of photon capture can be further improved by structuring the catalyst as a photonic crystal. Here, the synthesis of photonic crystal plasmonic photocatalyst materials using Au nanoparticle‐functionalized inverse opal (IO) photonic crystals is reported. A catalyst prepared using a visible‐light‐responsive semiconductor (V2 O5 ) displayed over an order of magnitude increase in reaction rate under green light excitation (λ = 532 nm) compared to no illumination. The superior performance of Au‐V2 O5 IO is attributed to spectral overlap of the electronic bandgap, localized surface plasmon resonance, and incident light source. For the Au‐TiO2 catalyst, despite coupling of the LSPR and excitation source at λ = 532 nm, this is not as effective in enhancing photocatalytic activity compared to carrying out the reaction under broadband visible light, which is attributed to improved photon adsorption in the visible by the presence of a photonic bandgap, and exploiting slow light in the photonic crystal to enhance photon absorption to create this synergistic type of photocatalyst. Abstract : An inverse opal photonic crystal‐structured metal oxide becomes a very efficient photocatalyst when the surface plasmon absorption of surface immobilized gold nanoparticles, slow photon effect from the photonic crystal, semiconductor bandgap absorption, and reduced reflectivity from the photonic bandgap are all tuned to work together to maximize electron transfer for photocatalysis.