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(Metal yolk)/(porous ceria shell) nanostructures for high-performance plasmonic photocatalysis under visible light

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Abstract

We describe a route to the preparation of (metal yolk)/(porous ceria shell) nanostructures through the heterogeneous growth of ceria on porous metal nanoparticles followed by the calcination-induced shrinkage of the nanoparticles. The approach allows for the control of the ceria shell thickness, the metal yolk composition and size, which is difficult to realize through common templating approaches. The yolk/shell nanostructures with monometallic Pt and bimetallic PtAg yolks featuring plasmon-induced broadband light absorption in the visible region are rationally designed and constructed. The superior photocatalytic activities of the obtained nanostructures are demonstrated by the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol under visible light. The excellent activities are ascribed to the synergistic effects of the metal yolk and the ceria shell on the light absorption, electron-hole separation and efficient mass transfer. Our synthesis of the (metal yolk)/(porous ceria shell) nanostructures points out a way to the creation of sophisticated heteronanostructures for high-performance photocatalysis.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61605050), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China (Nos. 2017J01085 and 2019J06019), the Promotion Program for Young and Middle-aged Teacher in Science and Technology Research of Huaqiao University (No. ZQN-PY416), the Scientific Research Funds of Huaqiao University (No. 16135102), and the Program for Innovative Research Team in Science and Technology in Fujian Province University.

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  1. Nina Jiang, Danyang Li, and Lili Liang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China

    Nina Jiang, Danyang Li, Lili Liang, Qing Xu, Shi-Bin Wang & Aizheng Chen

  2. Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Lei Shao & Jianfang Wang

  3. Country Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Biochemical Technology (Huaqiao University), Xiamen, 361021, China

    Nina Jiang, Shi-Bin Wang & Aizheng Chen

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  1. Nina Jiang
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Correspondence to Nina Jiang or Jianfang Wang.

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Jiang, N., Li, D., Liang, L. et al. (Metal yolk)/(porous ceria shell) nanostructures for high-performance plasmonic photocatalysis under visible light. Nano Res. 13, 1354–1362 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-019-2599-x

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