Gold Plasmon‐Enhanced Solar Hydrogen Production over SrTiO₃/TiO₂ Heterostructures

Abstract

Abstract This work demonstrated that 75 fold‐enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production over SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 heterostructures by Au plasmon‐enhanced electron‐phonon decoupling to generate more amounts of energetic electrons for solar water splitting. Such Au modified SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 heterostructures were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal post‐photoreduction method, consequently the hydrogen evolution rate is 467.3 μmol g −1 h −1 , which is 187 and 75 folds enhancement compared with TiO 2 and SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 samples, respectively. Based on systematic investigations, it is proposed that the internal electric field (IEF) between the interfaces of SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 and the enhanced near‐field amplitudes of localized surface plasmon (LSP) inhibit the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes in the bulk and accelerate the interfacial transfer of charge carriers. Simultaneously, electron spin resonance (ESR) showed the change of Ti 3+ species in SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 microspheres, mirroring the energetic electron transfer process from Au NPs to SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 microspheres.