A new dielectric ta-C film coating of Ag-nanoparticle hybrids to enhance TiO2 photocatalysis

Abstract

We have demonstrated a novel method to enhance TiO2 photocatalysis by adopting a new ultrathin tetrahedral-amorphous-carbon (ta-C) film coating on Ag nanoparticles to create strong plasmonic near-field enhancement. The result shows that the decomposition rate of methylene blue on the Ag/10 Å ta-C/TiO2 composite photocatalyst is ten times faster than that on a TiO2 photocatalyst and three times faster than that on a Ag/TiO2 photocatalyst. This can be ascribed to the simultaneous realization of two competitive processes: one that excites the surface plasmons (SPs) of the ta-C-film/Ag-nanoparticle hybrid and provides a higher electric field near the ta-C/TiO2 interface compared to Ag nanoparticles alone, while the other takes advantage of the dense diamond-like ta-C layer to help reduce the transfer of photogenerated electrons from the conduction band of TiO2 to the metallic surface, since any electron transfer will suppress the excitation of SP modes in the metal nanoparticles.