Au plasmonics in a WS{sub 2}-Au-CuInS{sub 2} photocatalyst for significantly enhanced hydrogen generation

Journal Article · Mon Nov 30 04:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4937008· OSTI ID:22486170

Cheng, Zhongzhou ^[1]; Wang, Zhenxing; Shifa, Tofik Ahmed; Wang, Fengmei; Zhan, Xueying; Xu, Kai; He, Jun ^[1]; Liu, Quanlin ^[2]

---

1. CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190 (China)
2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China)

Promoting the activities of photocatalysts is still the critical challenge in H{sub 2} generation area. Here, a Au plasmon enhanced photocatalyst of WS{sub 2}-Au-CuInS{sub 2} is developed by inserting Au nanoparticles between WS{sub 2} nanotubes and CuInS{sub 2} (CIS) nanoparticles. Due to the localized surface plasmonic resonance properties from Au nanoparticles, WS{sub 2}-Au-CIS shows the best performance as compared to Au-CIS, CIS, WS{sub 2}-CIS, CIS-Au, WS{sub 2}-Au, and WS{sub 2}-CIS-Au. The surface plasmonic resonance effects dramatically intensify the absorption of visible light and help to inject hot electrons into the semiconductors. Our findings open up an efficient method to optimize the type-II structures for photocatalytic water splitting.

• OSTI ID: 22486170
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 107; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
COPPER SULFIDES
INDIUM SULFIDES
INTERSTITIAL HYDROGEN GENERATION
NANOPARTICLES
NANOTUBES
PHOTOCATALYSIS
RESONANCE
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
TUNGSTEN SULFIDES