Turning Semimetal into Metallic Plasmonic Nanoparticle Photocatalysts by Alloying Strategy

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Plasmonic nanoparticle photocatalysts have advanced from fundamental research to real-world applications, with a range of noble and non-noble metals. However, optical overlap between localized surface plasmon resonance and interband transitions has recently drawn attention to the need to distinguish more systematically and thoroughly the hot-carrier contributions to observed photocatalysis. In this work, we first focus on exclusively interband-induced photocatalysis in bismuth nanoparticles and then alloy metallic tin with them at different percentages, creating intermediate energy states and, ultimately, a new plasmonic band. The observed optical absorption and associated interband and plasmonic enhancements in photocatalysis have supported these mechanistic interpretations, which provide a unique perspective on developing non-noble-metal nanoparticle photocatalysts with tunable plasmon resonances and interband transitions.