Evaluation of the plasmonic effect of Au and Ag on Ti-based photocatalysts in the reduction of CO2 to CH4

Martin Dilla, Anna Pougin, Jennifer Strunk

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Crystalline TiO2 (P25) and isolated titanate species in a ZSM-5 structure (TS-1) were modified with Au and Ag, respectively, and tested in the gas-phase photocatalytic CO2 reduction under high purity conditions. The noble metal modification was performed by photodeposition. Light absorbance properties of the catalysts are examined with UV–Vis spectroscopy before and after the activity test. In the gas-phase photocatalytic CO2 reduction, it was observed that the catalysts with Ag nanostructures are more active than those with Au nanostructures. It is thus found that the energetic difference between the band gap energy of the semiconductor and the position of the plasmon is influencing the photocatalytic activity. Potentially, plasmon excitation due to visible light absorption results in plasmon resonance energy, which affects the excitation of the semiconductor positively. Therefore, an overlap between band gap energy of the semiconductor and metal plasmon is needed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)277-283
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Energy Chemistry
Volume26
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • High-purity gas-phase photoreactor
  • Methane formation
  • Noble metal photodeposition
  • P25
  • Photocatalytic CO reduction
  • Plasmon resonance
  • TS-1

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