Enhanced Plasmonic Hot Electron Transfer on Aucore‐Agshell Nanoparticles under Visible‐Light Irradiation

Abstract

AbstractPlasmonic photocatalysis under visible‐light irradiation has long been regarded as a very promising strategy for inducing chemical transformations. However, the efficient utilization of these hot electrons on monometallic nanoparticles to induce chemical reaction remains a challenging subject. Here, we study plasmonic hot electron activity of Aucore‐Agshell bimetallic nanoparticles towards the four‐electron reduction of 4‐nitrothiophenol to 4,4′‐dimercaptoazobenzene. Our results show that Aucore‐Agshell nanoparticles possess a higher catalytic activity than pure Au and Ag nanoparticles and the photocatalytic transformation is strongly dependent on the thickness of Ag shell. The plasmonic catalytic activity could be explained by a boosting hot‐electron‐hole separation driven by the contact potential at the bimetallic interface. This work provides new opportunities to enhance the efficient utilization of hot electron for plasmonic photocatalysis reaction.