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Enriching Hot Electrons via NIR‐Photon‐Excited Plasmon in WS 2 @Cu Hybrids for Full‐Spectrum Solar Hydrogen Evolution
Author(s) -
Xu Xiaoyong,
Luo Fengting,
Tang Wenshuai,
Hu Jingguo,
Zeng Haibo,
Zhou Yong
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201804055
Subject(s) - materials science , surface plasmon resonance , plasmon , photocatalysis , photochemistry , optoelectronics , nanoparticle , excited state , nanotechnology , atomic physics , chemistry , biochemistry , physics , catalysis
Full‐spectrum solar‐light‐activated photocatalysis remains a challenging pursuit for light‐chemical energy conversion, especially the involvement of near‐infrared (NIR) light. To this end, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) anchored on WS 2 nanosheets (NSs) is designed to expand light response over NIR region for broadband‐solar‐activated photoreduction of water to hydrogen (H 2 ). Under the simulated 1 sun irradiation (100 mW cm −2 ), the optimized WS 2 @Cu nanohybrid exhibits a stable and remarkable H 2 ‐evolution rate of 64 mmol g −1 h −1 , which is about 40 and 2.2 times higher than that of bare WS 2 and Cu, respectively. The SPR on Cu NPs enables hot electron excitation and transfer to WS 2 NSs, with fast charge separation across Schottky interface, rendering enhanced photocatalytic activity with response extending to NIR region beyond λ > 750 nm. This work describes an avenue of plasmon‐mediated NIR utilization for artificial photosynthesis and solar energy conversion.