Electron–Hole Pair Generation of the Visible-Light Plasmonic Photocatalyst Ag@AgCl: Enhanced Optical Transitions Involving Midgap Defect States of AgCl

Abstract

We explored how the visible-light energy absorbed by noble-metal nanoparticles (NPs) is converted to electrons and holes in the semiconductor in a visible-light plasmonic photocatalyst by studying the representative system Ag@AgCl on the basis of density functional calculations and classical electrodynamics calculations. These calculations suggest that the energy transfer from the Ag NPs to the semiconductor AgCl requires the presence of midgap defect states in the semiconductor and that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the Ag NPs strongly enhances the optical transitions of the semiconductor involving the defect states. We verified this suggestion experimentally by preparing Ag@AgCl samples possessing different degrees of bulk and surface defects and subsequently by carrying out photodegradation experiments using these samples.