Hot Electrons Research Articles

Flexible roles of TiO2 in enhancing carrier separation for the high photocatalytic performance of water treatment under different spectrum sunlight

Construction of heterogeneous-photocatalysts is an effective mean for enhancing charge separation, however, the specific roles of the individual components have not been thoroughly explored. In this article, a heterogeneous-photocatalyst, TiO2/MoO3-x, was constructed, revealing that the two components, TiO2 and MoO3-x, play varying roles under different light spectra. Under full spectrum light, an S-scheme mechanism was achieved, which preserved the high oxidizing and reducing property of MoO3-x and TiO2, facilitating an augmented generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Under visible light, the MoO3-x functioned as the donor of hot electrons and the TiO2 served as the receptor platform for these electrons. The presence of the interfacial electric field enabled the transfer of hot electrons, leading to an enhanced ROS generation. Consequently, the TiO2/MoO3-x achieved high photocatalytic activity under both full spectrum and visible light. The optimized TiO2/MoO3-x catalyst demonstrated outstanding antibacterial efficacy, achieving eradication rates of 98.1 % for Staphylococcus aureus, and 99.6 % for Escherichia coli respectively. Additionally, it exhibited substantial degradation activity with a rate of 0.028 min−1 for Rhodamine B (50 mg/L). Furthermore, the TiO2/MoO3-x membrane removed approximately 81.2 % of bacteria from surface water, underscoring the potential of the designed membrane in water purification systems. This article explored the distinct roles and corresponding charge transfer mechanisms of the TiO2 and MoO3-x under full spectrum or visible light, offering innovative ideas for the design of full-spectrum photocatalysts with high efficiency. The straightforward design of membrane-based filtering device demonstrated wide applications for treating wastewater for the removal of dye and bacterial contamination.

Interband and Intraband Hot Carrier-Driven Photocatalysis on Plasmonic Bimetallic Nanoparticles: A Case Study of Au-Cu Alloy Nanoparticles.

Photoexcited nonthermal electrons and holes in metallic nanoparticles, known as hot carriers, can be judiciously harnessed to drive interesting photocatalytic molecule-transforming processes on nanoparticle surfaces. Interband hot carriers are generated upon direct photoexcitation of electronic transitions between different electronic bands, whereas intraband hot carriers are derived from nonradiative decay of plasmonic electron oscillations. Due to their fundamentally distinct photogeneration mechanisms, these two types of hot carriers differ strikingly from each other in terms of energy distribution profiles, lifetimes, diffusion lengths, and relaxation dynamics, thereby exhibiting remarkably different photocatalytic behaviors. The spectral overlap between plasmon resonances and interband transitions has been identified as a key factor that modulates the interband damping of plasmon resonances, which regulates the relative populations, energy distributions, and photocatalytic efficacies of intraband and interband hot carriers in light-illuminated metallic nanoparticles. As exemplified by the Au-Cu alloy nanoparticles investigated in this work, both the resonant frequencies of plasmons and the energy threshold for the d-to-sp interband transitions can be systematically tuned in bimetallic alloy nanoparticles by varying the compositional stoichiometries and particle sizes. Choosing photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B as a model reaction, we elaborate on how the variation of the particle sizes and compositional stoichiometries profoundly influences the photocatalytic efficacies of interband and intraband hot carriers in Au-Cu alloy nanoparticles under different photoexcitation conditions.

Electrical Properties and Reliability of AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistor under RF Overdrive Stress at High Temperature.

We have investigated the electrical properties and reliability of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) under high-temperature RF overdrive stress. The experimental results show that the drain current and transconductance of the device decrease at 25 °C and 55 °C but do not change significantly at 85 °C before and after the stress. The decline rate of the saturation drain current, the degradation amplitude of transconductance, and the drift amplitude of threshold voltage decrease with the increase in temperature. The results of pulse I-V and low-frequency noise tests show that the current collapse is inhibited, and the trap density is reduced at higher temperatures. The Electroluminescence (EL) test shows that the luminescence characteristics of the device after RF overdrive stress are more scattered and weaker. We believe that the degradation at lower temperatures is mainly due to the influence of the hot electron effect (HEE), while the change in electrical properties at higher temperatures is due to the weakening of HEE and the improvement of the Schottky interface.

Efficient hole transport layers for silicon heterojunction solar cells by surface plasmonic modification in MoOx/Au NPs/MoOx stacks

This study explores the integration of Au nanoparticles (NPs) into molybdenum oxide (MoOx) thin films to form a MoOx/Au NPs/MoOx (MAM) stack. This stack serves as a hole transport layer (HTL) in silicon heterojunction solar cells, aiming to address the challenges of safety concerns and inefficient carrier transport. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra demonstrate that the incorporation of Au NPs notably raises the work function of MAM to 5.85 eV and stabilize Mo6+ concentrations at 94.07%. In addition, Au NPs effectively act as a shield against detrimental interactions with Ag, thereby improving the interfacial stability between the back electrode and HTL. This strategic enhancement facilitates the formation of surface plasmon polaritons, reduces the contact resistance to 41.19 mΩ cm2, and boosts the quantum efficiency by injecting hot electrons and intensifying the surface electric field. These advancements lead to a significant enhancement in the fill factor and short-circuit current, leading to the development of a heterojunction solar cell with an increased efficiency (Eff) from 19.81% to 22.03%. This investigation underscores the transformative potential of engineered nanomaterials in elevating the performance and stability of photovoltaic devices, promoting the wider adoption of renewable energy technologies.

An intriguing numerical strategy for Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation through graph-theoretic polynomials

This paper explores graph-theoretic polynomials to find the approximate solution of the (2+1)D Time-fractional Zakharov-Kuznetsov(TF-Z-K) equation. The Zakharov-Kuznetsov equations govern the behavior of nonlinear acoustic waves in the plasma of hot isothermal electrons and cold ions in the presence of a homogeneous magnetic field. Independence polynomials of the Ladder-Rung graph serve as the polynomial approximation for the suggested Independence Polynomial Collocation Method (IPCM). The Caputo fractional derivatives are adopted to determine the fractional derivatives in the TF-Z-K equation. The TF-Z-K equation is converted into a system of nonlinear algebraic equations using the collocation points in IPCM. The Newton-Raphson approach yields the solution of the suggested method by solving the resulting system. We’ve compared a few scenarios with the tangible outcomes to validate the procedure. Quantitative outcomes match the current findings and validate the exactness of IPCM compared t o the recent numerical and semi-analytical approaches in the literature.

Reduced Ag NPs-modified NaTaO3 layer improves photocatalytic degradation and antimicrobial ability through LSPR effect and doping behavior

Reduced Ag NPs modified Ag-doped NaTaO3 layer photocatalysts were prepared using the hydrothermal method. The research investigated the microstructure and degradation ability of composite layer containing Ag-NaTaO3. Various techniques, including SEM,TEM, XRD, UV–Vis and PL analyses, were used for the evaluation. The antibacterial effect of the Ag-NaTaO3 layers on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) before and after modification with reduced Ag NPs was evaluated. The Ag-NaTaO3 composite layer showed stronger degradation effect and bactericidal activity than NaTaO3 under the optimal conditions (Concentration of Ag+-containing solution 0.1 mol/L, reaction temperature 200 ℃, reaction time 3 h). The degradation efficiency of Ag3-NaTaO3 for MB was 87.6 % after 50 min, and the bactericidal inhibition rate was 100 % after 20 min. The degradation process, with electron hole (h+) as the main active substance, conforms to the first-order kinetic with a rate constant (K) value of 0.0310 min−1. The band gaps (Eg) of the calculated pure phase NaTaO3 and Ag3-NaTaO3 are 3.18 eV and 2.75 eV, correspondingly. The fluorescence decay spectra indicate that the average expected lifetimes of Ag3-NaTaO3 composites rounded is 11.45 ns, respectively. The NaTaO3 nano-cubic structure, prepared using Ta2O5 precursor, reduces the grain size, provides more surface active sites, and effectively improves the range of the NaTaO3 photoresponse. AgNO3 solution is used to reduce Ag NPs and carry out doping behavior. The LSPR behavior of Ag NPs and the doping behavior of Ag lower the Schottky barrier that is made up of the metal–semiconductor interface. This ensures that the hot metal electrons are injected into the semiconductors efficiently, improves the electron-hole (h+) separation efficiency, and enhances the photocatalytic activity. The bacterial structure was destroyed through a dual mechanism of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (·OH, ·O2–) and Ag properties, achieving excellent bacterial inhibition. This study proposes a new concept to enhance the photocatalytic performance of NaTaO3 thinfilm materials, which will could have significant applications in the field of wastewater treatment.

Plasmon-driven chemical transformation of a secondary amide probed by surface enhanced Raman scattering

Plasmon-driven chemical conversion is gaining burgeoning interest in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we study the reactivity of N-methyl-4-sulfanylbenzamide (NMSB) at nanocavities of gold and silver nanoparticle aggregates under plasmonic excitation to gain understanding of the respective reaction mechanism. NMSB is a secondary amide, which is a frequent binding motive found in peptides and a common coupling product of organic molecules and biomolecules. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is used as a two-in-one in-situ spectroscopic tool to initiate the molecular transformation process and simultaneously monitor and analyze the reaction products. Supported by dissociative electron attachment (DEA) studies with the gas phase molecule, a hot electron-mediated conversion of NMSB to p-mercaptobenzamide and p-mercaptobenzonitrile is proposed at the plasmonic nanocavities. The reaction rate showed negligible dependence on the external temperature, ruling out the dominant role of heat in the chemical transformation at the plasmonic interface. This is reflected in the absence of a superlinear relationship between the reaction rate constant and the laser power density, and DEA and SERS studies indicate a hot-electron mediated pathway. We conclude that the overall reaction rate is limited by the availability of energetic hot electrons to the NMSB molecule.

Investigation of different ratio of CuCe catalysts applied in photothermal reverse water gas shift reaction

The photothermal catalytic reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) can convert CO2 into other high-value-added chemical resources under mild conditions. However, the design and development of high-performance catalysts is a major challenge. In this work, different proportions of CuCe bimetallic catalysts were synthesized using the sol-gel method and applied to RWGS. Under the visible light heat catalytic condition at 450 ℃, the CO yield can be increased by about 20 % compared to thermal catalysis, which is better than most metal-based catalysts reported in the literature. Moreover, the catalyst exhibited good stability and reusability, with the primary factor affecting the stability of the CuCe catalyst being the growth of Cu nanoparticles. The characterization shows that at Cu/Ce=1, the separation efficiency of electron-hole separation is the highest, and the hot electrons generated by the LSPR effect of Cu can be effectively separated and transferred, producing more oxygen vacancies and suitable alkaline sites, so it has the best photothermal catalytic performance. Furthermore, the catalyst is dominated by the formate pathway under light conditions, and this work provides a new RWGS strategy.

Unveiling the Mechanism of Plasmon Photocatalysis via Multiquantum Vibrational Excitation.

Plasmon photocatalysis reactions are thought to occur through vibrationally activated reactants, driven by nonthermal energy transfer from plasmon-induced hot carriers. However, a detailed quantum-state-level understanding and quantification of the activation have been lacking. Using anti-Stokes surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy, we mapped the vibrational population distributions of reactants on plasmon-excited nanostructures. Our results reveal a highly nonthermal distribution with an anomalously enhanced population of multiquantum excited states (v ≥ 2). The shape of the distribution and its dependence on local field intensity and excitation wavelength cannot be explained by photothermal heating or vibronic optical transitions of the metal-molecule complex. Instead, it can be modeled by hot electron-molecule energy transfer mediated by the transient negative ions, establishing direct links among nonthermal reactant activation, plasmon-induced hot electrons, and negative ion resonances. Moreover, the presence of multiquantum excited reactants, which are far more reactive than those in the ground state or first excited state, presents opportunities for vibrationally controlling chemical selectivities.

Effects of diamond/Al interface structure evolution on interfacial thermal conductance during the carbonization of the Cr interlayer

The correlation between the interface structure evolution and the interfacial thermal conductance (ITC) in diamond particles reinforced Al matrix (diamond/Al) composites has been largely unclear. Herein, diamond/Cr/Al nanolayered structures with the interlayers in different carbonization stages were prepared via magnetron sputtering and annealing treatment to simulate the interfaces in diamond/Al composites. As the annealing time increases, the formed Cr3C2 phase progressively grows from discrete particles to a continuous layer at the diamond/Cr interface, during which the thickness of the carbide layer gradually increases. The formation of Cr3C2 phase improves the interface bonding and provides a more convenient channel for the heat exchange of hot carriers between the interfaces. Accordingly, the ITCs of the samples gradually increases with the annealing time and reaches the maximum value of 436.66 MW/(m2·K) at 120 min due to the formation of a thin and continues Cr3C2 layer. However, considering high interfacial thermal resistance was introduced at the interface when the Cr3C2 interlayer is too thick, the ITC of the sample decreased to 321 MW/(m2·K) as the annealing time extended to 240 min. In addition, Al8Cr5 phase is generated at the Al/Cr interface, but its impact on the ITC of the samples is negligible due to the small amount.

Full-spectrum plasmonic semiconductor with stabilized oxygen vacancies enables VOCs purification for durable clean water capture

To mitigate health risks associated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in solar-driven water evaporation, we developed Au/WO2.72 material with full-spectrum absorption capabilities and dual photothermal and photocatalytic properties. Injecting hot electrons from Au nanoparticles (NPs) into WO2.72 preserves oxygen vacancies, thus maintaining the plasmonic effect and significantly reducing hot electron relaxation. This leads to enhanced purification of VOCs. The MF-Au/WO2.72 water evaporator, constructed on a melamine–formaldehyde (MF) substrate, demonstrated a water evaporation rate of 1.36 kg m-2 h−1 and stability over 6 h daily for 12 days under one sun irradiation. Importantly, it achieved a 92.9 % removal efficiency for phenol VOCs. Outdoor experiments validated its effectiveness in organic wastewater purification and seawater desalination, highlighting its potential for efficient and clean water production by simultaneously removing VOCs during the evaporation process. This work provides valuable insights into utilizing plasmonic-coupling materials for solar water purification.

CuS hollow nanocages with rough surface to enhanced photothermal property for ultra-sensitive detection of furazolidone metabolites

Signal tracers play a key role in the lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for improving sensitivity and signal output capability. Photothermal signal has sparked significant excitement in designing high-performance LFIAs. Herein, CuS hollow nanocages (CuS HNCs) were synthesized for building a dual signal LFIA. CuS HNCs show excellent photothermal conversion efficiency due to their unique morphology and superior localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. Meanwhile, the hollow-cage structure endows CuS HNCs with high light absorption and suitable colorimetric property. Furazolidone (FZD) metabolite was used as a model target in the developed LFIA to demonstrate its superior comprehensive performances brought by CuS HNCs. The limit of detection is as low as 0.099 ng mL−1 (colorimetric mode) and 0.075ng mL−1 (photothermal mode), respectively. Furthermore, standard recovery test in honey and shrimp samples was performed and the recovery rates ranged from 86.33 % to 116.71 %. This study not only introduces a new type of nanolabel characterized by an abundance of high-energy hot carriers and pronounced thermal effects, enabling the development of exceptionally sensitive immunosensor platforms but also extends applications of hollow plasmonic photothermal material in the point-of-care (POC) diagnostic field.

Quantum coupling and self-heating impacts on threshold voltages of GaN metal–insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors

A transient heat conduction equation has been proposed to describe the cooling process of a hot two-dimensional electron gas layer in a GaN-based transistor. This equation serves as the basis for a physical analytical model that explains the impacts of hot electrons in the hot two-dimensional electron gas layer via quantum coupling on the threshold voltage of GaN-based transistors. The temperature of the two-dimensional electron gas layer decreases to ambient temperature as time increases, and the threshold voltage shifts caused by such a temperature will recover with time. The proposed model accurately reflects the observed recovery of threshold voltage over time in experiments. At the same time, it offers insight into how the gate voltage, the source-drain voltage, and the ambient temperature can shift the threshold voltage in these transistors. The simplicity and analytic nature of this proposed model not only provide a physical origin of the threshold voltage instability in GaN-based devices but also offer the possibility for improving device reliability by selecting appropriate device physical parameters.

Giant ultrafast dichroism and birefringence with active nonlocal metasurfaces

Switching of light polarization on the sub-picosecond timescale is a crucial functionality for applications in a variety of contexts, including telecommunications, biology and chemistry. The ability to control polarization at ultrafast speed would pave the way for the development of unprecedented free-space optical links and of novel techniques for probing dynamical processes in complex systems, as chiral molecules. Such high switching speeds can only be reached with an all-optical paradigm, i.e., engineering active platforms capable of controlling light polarization via ultrashort laser pulses. Here we demonstrate giant modulation of dichroism and birefringence in an all-dielectric metasurface, achieved at low fluences of the optical control beam. This performance, which leverages the many degrees of freedom offered by all-dielectric active metasurfaces, is obtained by combining a high-quality factor nonlocal resonance with the giant third-order optical nonlinearity dictated by photogenerated hot carriers at the semiconductor band edge.

Anomalous hot electron generation from two-plasmon decay instability driven by broadband laser pulses with intensity modulations

We investigate the hot electrons generated from two-plasmon decay (TPD) instability driven by laser pulses with intensity modulated by a frequency Δω m using theoretical and numerical approaches. Our primary focus lies on scenarios where Δω m is on the same order of the TPD growth rate γ 0 ( Δωm∼γ0 ), corresponding to moderate laser frequency bandwidths for TPD mitigation. With Δω m conveniently modeled by a basic two-color scheme of the laser wave fields in fully-kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that the energies of TPD modes and hot electrons exhibit intermittent evolution at the frequency Δω m , particularly when Δωm∼γ0 . With the dynamic TPD behavior, the overall ratio of hot electron energy to the incident laser energy, fhot , changes significantly with Δω m . While fhot drops notably with increasing Δω m at large Δω m limit as expected, it goes anomalously beyond the hot electron energy ratio for a single-frequency incident laser pulse with the same average intensity when Δω m falls below a specific threshold frequency Δω c . This anomaly arises from the pronounced sensitivity of fhot to variations in laser intensity. We find this threshold frequency Δω c primarily depends on γ 0 and the collisional damping rate of plasma waves, with relatively lower sensitivity to the density scale length. We develop a scaling model characterizing the relation of Δω c and laser plasma conditions, enabling the potential extention of our findings to more complex and realistic scenarios.

Solution-Processable Microstructuring of 1T'-Phase Janus MoSSe Monolayers for Boosted Hydrogen Production.

Janus monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offer versatile applications due to their tunable polymorphisms. While previous studies focused on conventional 2H-phase Janus monolayers, the scalable synthesis of an unconventional 1T' phase remains challenging. We present a novel solution strategy for fabricating Janus 1T'-MoOSe and MoSSe monolayers by growing sandwiched Se-Mo-O/S shells onto Au nanocores. The Janus Au@1T'-MoSSe catalyst exhibits superior electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity compared to 1T'-MoS2, -MoSe2, and -MoOSe, attributed to its unique electronic structure and intrinsic strain. Remarkably, photoexciting the nanoplasmonic Au cores further enhances the HER via a localized surface plasmon (LSP) effect that drives hot electron injection into surface sulfur vacancies of 1T'-MoSSe monolayer shells, accelerating proton reduction. This synergistic activation of anion vacancies by internal strain and external light-induced Au LSPs, coupled with our scalable synthesis, provides a pathway for developing tailorable polymorphic Janus TMDs for specific applications.

Hot Electron Cooling in n-Doped Colloidal Nanoplatelets Following Near-Infrared Intersubband Excitation.

Intersubband transition was recently discovered in colloidal nanoplatelets, but the associated intersubband carrier relaxation dynamics remains poorly understood. In particular, it is crucial to selectively excite the intersubband transition and to follow the hot electron dynamics in the absence of valence-band holes. This is achieved herein by exciting the predoped electrons in CdSe/ZnS nanoplatelets using near-infrared femtosecond pulses and monitoring nonequilibrium electron dynamics using broad-band visible pulses. We find that the n = 2 electrons relax to the n = 1 subband and establish a Fermi-Dirac distribution within 200 fs, and finally reach an equilibrium with the lattice within a few ps. The cooling dynamics depend mainly on the excitation fluence but weakly on the doping density and the lattice temperature. These characteristics are well captured by our numerical simulation that explicitly accounts for the state occupation effect and optical phonon scattering.

Synthesis of nano-silver decorated β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2CO3 heterojunction using Bi-MOF precursor: Precisely controllable structure and enhanced photocatalytic activity for sulfadiazine degradation

In this study, a novel Ag/β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2CO3 nanocomposite was prepared by in-situ decomposition of a three-dimensional bismuth-trimesic acid complex (Bi–BTC) precursor at 300 ℃. The multilayered morphology and heterojunction structure of the prepared Ag/β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2CO3 nanocomposite were characterized by a series of technologies. The photocatalytic performance of Ag/β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2CO3 was evaluated by removal of sulfadiazine (SD) antibiotic from water under visible-light irradiation, and the degradation efficiency of SD was up to 96.8 % within 160 min. The superior catalytic activity of Ag/β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2CO3 is attributed to the p-n heterojunction structure constructed by β-Bi2O3 and Bi2O2CO3, as well as the surface plasmon resonance effect of nano-silver, which not only promoting the charge separation and transfer, but also increasing the hot electron density. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and active species trapping experiments indicated that ∙O2 and h+ play a major role in the oxidative degradation of sulfadiazine. The possible degradation pathway of sulfadiazine was identified, and the ecological toxicity of SD and its degradation intermediates was estimated using T.E.S.T. software. In addition, the as-prepared Ag/β-Bi2O3/Bi2O2CO3 showed excellent photo-corrosion resistance capacity and good reusability in photocatalytic degradation of SD.

Hot Electrons Induced by Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance in Ag/g-C3N4 Schottky Junction for Photothermal Catalytic CO2 Reduction.

Converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into high-value-added chemicals using solar energy is a promising approach to reducing carbon dioxide emissions; however, single photocatalysts suffer from quick the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and poor photoredox ability. Herein, silver (Ag) nanoparticles featuring with localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) are combined with g-C3N4 to form a Schottky junction for photothermal catalytic CO2 reduction. The Ag/g-C3N4 exhibits higher photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity under UV-vis light; the CH4 and CO evolution rates are 10.44 and 88.79 µmol·h-1·g-1, respectively. Enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction performances are attributed to efficient hot electron transfer in the Ag/g-C3N4 Schottky junction. LSPR-induced hot electrons from Ag nanoparticles improve the local reaction temperature and promote the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The charge carrier transfer route was investigated by in situ irradiated X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D-FDTD) method verified the strong electromagnetic field at the interface between Ag and g-C3N4. The photothermal catalytic CO2 reduction pathway of Ag/g-C3N4 was investigated using in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectra (DRIFTS). This study examines hot electron transfer in the Ag/g-C3N4 Schottky junction and provides a feasible way to design a plasmonic metal/polymer semiconductor Schottky junction for photothermal catalytic CO2 reduction.

Plasmonic Pt-PPCN/TiN Ohmic Junction for Photo-Thermo Catalytic Hydrogen Production.

The rational design of photocatalysts for improving the conversion of solar energy into hydrogen is a promising route for achieving carbon neutrality. Herein, we couple plasmonic titanium nitride (TiN) with highly crystalline potassium-doped polymeric carbon nitride (PPCN) to construct a PPCN/TiN ohmic junction. Such an ohmic junction not only broadens the absorption spectrum but also inhibits the recombination of electrons and holes. In addition, Pt nanoparticles are introduced into this ohmic junction to form plasmonic Pt-PPCN/TiN, improving the capture of hot electrons generated by TiN and thereby promoting the dissociation of the O-H bond in H2O. The energy barrier decreases from 0.7 to 0.2 eV. Enhanced separation of carrier, activation of water molecules, and capture of hot electrons are jointly promoting photo-thermo catalytic hydrogen production. Therefore, under full-spectrum irradiation, the hydrogen production rate of Pt-PPCN/TiN reaches 19 085 μmol g-1 h-1. This novel plasmonic photocatalyst is promising for full-spectrum photo-thermo catalytic hydrogen production.