Surface plasmon-driven photocatalytic activity of Ni@NiO/NiCO₃ core–shell nanostructures
Talebi, Parisa; Singh, Harishchandra; Rani, Ekta; Huttula, Marko; Cao, Wei (2021-01-13)
RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 2733-2743, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0RA09666K
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe202101182065
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Ni@NiO/NiCO3 core–shell nanostructures have been investigated for surface plasmon driven photocatalytic solar H₂ generation without any co-catalyst. Huge variation in the photocatalytic activity has been observed in the pristine vs. post-vacuum annealed samples with the maximum H₂ yield (∼110 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹) for the vacuum annealed sample (N70–100/2 h) compared to ∼92 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ for the pristine (N70) photocatalyst. Thorough structural (X-ray diffraction) and spectroscopic (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy coupled electron energy loss spectroscopy) investigations reveal the core Ni nanoparticle decorated with the shell, a composite of crystalline NiO and amorphous NiCO₃. Significant visible light absorption at ∼475 nm in the UV-vis region along with the absence of a peak/edge corresponding to NiO suggest the role of surface plasmons in the observed catalytic activity. As per the proposed mechanism, amorphous NiCO₃ in the shell has been suggested to serve as the dielectric medium/interface, which enhances the surface plasmon resonance and boosts the HER activity.
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