Effective strategy to improve photocatalytic activity in concave Au NRs-Pt-CdS hetero-nanostructure

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen (H2) production has been comprehensively investigated for application in the field of energy science. However, the energy conversion efficiency is not satisfactory in some practical aspects. In this work, we proposed a well-controlled synthetic strategy to develop concave gold nanorods (Au NRs) with substantially enhanced photocatalytic performance for H2 production. Concave Au NRs with high-index facets are synthesized using the one-step process in aqueous solution. Morphology evolution and plasmon properties of concave Au NRs are carefully studied by adjusting several key growth parameters. Different from the cylindrical Au NRs synthesized using seed-mediated method, the extinction spectra of concave Au NRs show three plasmon resonance modes (transverse edge mode, transverse hybrid mode, and longitudinal corner mode). Pt nanoparticles and CdS nanocrystals are selectively grown onto Au NRs through the composition design. The photocatalytic H2 production rate of concave Au NRs-Pt-CdS hetero-nanostructure reaches a value as high as 21654.56 μmol·g−1·h−1. These characteristics suggest the great potential of novel faceted metal nanostructures for excellent performance of photocatalysis applications.