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A Stable Plasmonic Cu@Cu 2 O/ZnO Heterojunction for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation
Author(s) -
Lou Yongbing,
Zhang Yake,
Cheng Lin,
Chen Jinxi,
Zhao Yixin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201800249
Subject(s) - nanorod , photocatalysis , materials science , surface plasmon resonance , plasmon , nanostructure , heterojunction , copper , nanoparticle , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , chemical stability , optoelectronics , catalysis , chemistry , metallurgy , biochemistry , engineering
The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect has been widely utilized in photocatalysis, but most reported LSPR materials are based on noble metals of gold or silver with high chemical stability. Plasmonic copper nanoparticles that exhibit an LSPR absorbance at 600 nm are promising for many applications, such as photocatalysis. Unfortunately, plasmonic copper nanoparticles are affected by serious surface oxidation in air. Herein, a novel lollipop‐shaped Cu@Cu 2 O/ZnO heterojunction nanostructure was designed, for the first time, to stabilize the plasmonic Cu core by decorating Cu@Cu 2 O core–shell structures with ZnO nanorods. This Cu@Cu 2 O/ZnO nanostructure exhibited significantly enhanced stability than that of regular Cu@Cu 2 O, which accounted for the remarkably enhanced photocatalytic H 2 evolution rate through water splitting, relative to pristine ZnO nanorods, over an extended wavelength range due to the plasmonic Cu core.