A Novel Self-Assembly Strategy for the Fabrication of Nano-Hybrid Satellite Materials with Plasmonically Enhanced Catalytic Activity

The generation of hydrogen from water using light is currently one of the most promising alternative energy sources for humankind but faces significant barriers for large-scale applications due to the low efficiency of existing photo-catalysts. In this work we propose a new route to fabricate nano-h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inNanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 6; p. 1580
Main Authors Morris, Gareth, Sorzabal-Bellido, Ioritz, Bilton, Matthew, Dawson, Karl, McBride, Fiona, Raval, Rasmita, Jäckel, Frank, Diaz Fernandez, Yuri A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 16.06.2021
MDPI
Subjects
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

Loading…
More Information
Summary:The generation of hydrogen from water using light is currently one of the most promising alternative energy sources for humankind but faces significant barriers for large-scale applications due to the low efficiency of existing photo-catalysts. In this work we propose a new route to fabricate nano-hybrid materials able to deliver enhanced photo-catalytic hydrogen evolution, combining within the same nanostructure, a plasmonic antenna nanoparticle and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). For each stage of our fabrication process we probed the chemical composition of the materials with nanometric spatial resolution, allowing us to demonstrate that the final product is composed of a silver nanoparticle (AgNP) plasmonic core, surrounded by satellite Pt decorated CdS QDs (CdS@Pt), separated by a spacer layer of SiO2 with well-controlled thickness. This new type of photoactive nanomaterial is capable of generating hydrogen when irradiated with visible light, displaying efficiencies 300% higher than the constituting photo-active components. This work may open new avenues for the development of cleaner and more efficient energy sources based on photo-activated hydrogen generation.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
Current address: IDISNA, Ciberonc and Solid Tumors and Biomarkers Program, Center for Applied Medical Research, University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Spain.
ISSN:2079-4991
2079-4991
DOI:10.3390/nano11061580