Efficient hydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting using surface plasmons in hybrid nanoparticles

摘要

Photocatalytic water splitting is employed as a method to directly obtain clean hydrogen from solar radiation by using hybrid nanoparticles with metallic cores and semiconductor photocatalytic shells. Efficient unassisted overall photocatalytic splitting of water is based on resonant absorption from surface plasmon in metal core/semiconductor shell hybrid nanoparticles, which can extend the absorption spectra further towards the visible-near infrared range, thus dramatically increasing the solar energy conversion efficiency. When used in combination with scintillator nanoparticles, the hybrid photocatalytic nanoparticles can be used for conversion of nuclear energy into hydrogen.