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Plasmon‐Induced Hot Carrier Separation across Dual Interface in Gold–Nickel Phosphide Heterojunction for Photocatalytic Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Mondal Indranil,
Lee Hyunhwa,
Kim Heeyoung,
Park Jeong Young
Publication year - 2020
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.201908239
Subject(s) - materials science , heterojunction , plasmon , phosphide , nanomaterials , overpotential , photocatalysis , nanorod , water splitting , nickel , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , electrochemistry , optoelectronics , catalysis , electrode , chemistry , engineering , biochemistry , metallurgy
Precise control of the topology of metal nanocrystals and appropriate modulation of the metal–semiconductor heterostructure is an important way to understand the relationship between structure and material properties for plasmon‐induced solar‐to‐chemical energy conversion. Here, a bottom‐up wet chemical approach to synthesize Au/Ni 2 P heterostructures via Pt‐catalyzed quasi‐epitaxial overgrowth of Ni on Au nanorods (NR) is presented. The structural motif of the Ni 2 P is controlled using the aspect ratio of the Au NR and the effective micelle concentration of the C 16 TAB capping agent. Highly ordered Au/Pt/Ni 2 P nanostructures are employed as the photoelectrocatalytic anode system for water splitting. Electrochemical and ultrafast absorption spectroscopy characterization indicates that the structural motif of the Ni 2 P (controlled by the outer‐shell deposition of Ni) helps to manipulate hot electron transfer during surface plasmon decay. With optimized Ni 2 P thickness, Pt‐tipped Au NR with an aspect ratio of 5.2 exhibits a geometric current density of 10 mA cm −2 with an overpotential of 140 mV. The photoanode displays unprecedented long‐term stability with continuous chronoamperometric performance of 50 h at an input potential of 1.5 V with over 30 days. This work provides definitive guidance for designing plasmonic–catalytic nanomaterials for enhanced solar‐to‐chemical energy conversion.