Graphene supported plasmonic photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution in photocatalytic water splitting

It is well known that the noble metal nanoparticles show active absorption in the visible region because of the existence of the unique feature known as surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Here we report the effect of plasmonic Au nanoparticles on the enhancement of the renewable hydrogen (H 2 ) evolution through photocatalytic water splitting. The plasmonic Au/graphene/TiO 2 photocatalyst was synthesized in two steps: first the graphene/TiO 2 nanocomposites were developed by the hydrothermal decomposition process; then the Au was loaded by photodeposition. The plasmonic Au and the graphene as co-catalyst effectively prolong the recombination of the photogenerated charges. This plasmonic photocatalyst displayed enhanced photocatalytic H 2 evolution for water splitting in the presence of methanol as a sacrificial reagent. The H 2 evolution rate from the Au/graphene co-catalyst was about 9 times higher than that of a pure graphene catal...

G P Singh, K M Shrestha, A Nepal, K J Klabunde and C M Sorensen

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