Observation of plasmon boosted photoelectrochemical activities on single Au/Cu₂O nanoelectrode

Abstract

Plasmon related photoelectrochemical (PEC) reactions have been widely reported on metallic nanostructures in a large scale. However, the detailed information on single nanostructure has been rarely reported. Herein, we construct nanoelectrode based on single Au/Cu2O nanowire to unveil how surface plasma in Au nanowire impact the PEC behavior of Au/Cu2O nanoelectrode with diameter as small as 100 nm. Even in such low dimension, we could still observe obvious photocurrent in the scale of nanoamperes. The contribution of plasma in Au nanowire has been confirmed by the external quantum yield spectra and the exponential curve of photocurrent versus light intensity. Importantly, H2 bubble has also been observed in the water reduction process. Thus, insights on PEC reactions in nanoscale have been provided.

Solar-blind photodetectors based on MXenes–β-Ga2O3 Schottky junctions

“…So far, various types of β-Ga 2 O 3 -based solar-blind photodetectors, including photoconductors, Schottky photodiodes, metal-semiconductormetal (MSM) photodetectors and heterojunction photodiodes, have been demonstrated [18][19][20][21]. Among them, Schottky photodiodes exhibit unique characteristics such as low dark current, fast response speed, high UV/visible rejection ratio and possibility of zero-bias operation [22][23][24]. Different metals have been employed as the Schottky contacts of β-Ga 2 O 3 , such as Au, Ti, Ni, Pt, Cu, Pb, etc [25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

Photocatalytic Water Oxidation Directly Using Plasmonics from Single Au Nanowires without the Contact with Semiconductors

“…Surface plasmons, the coherent oscillations of electrons in nanometals that could be stimulated by a wide range of electromagnetic waves, play a key role in the nanometal-involved processes, including photoelectrochemistry (PEC), − photovoltaics, − and biosensing. − Hence, they have attracted a lot of interest during the past decades. Unlike conventional semiconductors that could only generate exited charge carriers by absorbing the photons with energy higher than the band gap, plasmonic nanostructures have an impressive ability to produce exited (hot) charge carriers because the photo-absorption capability is not limited by the structure of the energy band. − Even the photons in the infrared range could also stimulate a pronounced amount of hot carriers. − Accordingly, efficiently harvesting the hot carriers in the plasmonic materials before recombination is highly advantageous in the applications of photocatalysts, detectors, and photovoltaics and is a key issue in constructing the plasmonic devices. − …”