Abstract
Solar conversion to fuels or to electricity in semiconductors using far red-to-near infrared (NIR) light, which accounts for about 40% of solar energy, is highly significant. One main challenge is the development of novel strategies for activity promotion and new basic mechanisms for NIR response. Mother Nature has evolved to smartly capture far red-to-NIR light via their intelligent systems due to unique micro/nanoarchitectures, thus motivating us for biomimetic design. Here we report the first demonstration of a new strategy, based on adopting nature’s far red-to-NIR responsive architectures for an efficient bio-inspired photocatalytic system. The system is constructed by controlled assembly of light-harvesting plasmonic nanoantennas onto a typical photocatalytic unit with butterfly wings’ 3D micro/nanoarchitectures. Experiments and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations demonstrate the structural effects on obvious far red-to-NIR photocatalysis enhancement, which originates from (1) Enhancing far red-to-NIR (700~1200 nm) harvesting, up to 25%. (2) Enhancing electric-field amplitude of localized surface plasmon (LSPs) to more than 3.5 times than that of the non-structured one, which promotes the rate of electron-hole pair formation, thus substantially reinforcing photocatalysis. This proof-of-concept study provides a new methodology for NIR photocatalysis and would potentially guide future conceptually new NIR responsive system designs.
Similar content being viewed by others
Introduction
Solar conversion to fuels or to electricity in semiconductors is a highly significant and challenging scientific and commercial mission1,2,3. Up to now, most efforts are focused on UV and visible light photocatalysis4,5,6 while near-infrared (NIR) light which accounts for about 40% of the solar energy is rarely utilized but quite important. So far, however, the problems are limited NIR active photocatalysts (e.g. Cu2(OH)PO47, WS28, BiErWO69, defect-induced Bi2WO610, H-WO314, heterostructure design15,16, oxygen vacancies induction How to cite this article: Yan, R. et al. Bio-inspired Plasmonic Nanoarchitectured Hybrid System Towards Enhanced Far Red-to-Near Infrared Solar Photocatalysis. Sci. Rep. 6, 20001; doi: 10.1038/srep20001 (2016).Additional Information
References
Osterloh, F. E. Inorganic nanostructures for photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic water splitting. Chem. Soc. Rev. 42, 2294–2320 (2013).
Chirilă, A. et al. Potassium-induced surface modification of Cu (In, Ga) Se2 thin films for high-efficiency solar cells. Nat. Mater. 12, 1107–1111 (2013).
Tong, H. et al. Nano-photocatalytic Materials: Possibilities and Challenges. Adv. Mater. 24, 229–251 (2012).
Yang, S. B. et al. Exfoliated Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheets as Efficient Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Under Visible Light. Adv. Mater. 25, 2452–2456 (2013).
Zhou, H. et al. Artificial Inorganic Leafs for Efficient Photochemical Hydrogen Production Inspired by Natural Photosynthesis. Adv. Mater. 22, 951–956 (2010).
Zhou, H. et al. Leaf-architectured 3D Hierarchical Artificial photosynthetic system of perovskite titanates towards CO2 Photoreduction into hydrocarbon fuels. Sci. Rep. 3, 1667 (2013).
Wang, G. et al. Cu2(OH)PO4, a Near-Infrared-Activated Photocatalyst. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52, 4810–4813 (2013).
Sang, Y. H. et al. From UV to Near-Infrared, WS2 Nanosheet: A novel photocatalyst for full solar light spectrum photodegradation. Adv. Mater. 27, 363–369 (2015).
Zhang, Z. J. & Wang, W. Z. Infrared-light-induced photocatalysis on BiErWO6 . Dalton. Trans. 42, 12072–12074 (2013).
Tian, J. et al. A Bi2WO6-Based Hybrid photocatalyst with broad spectrum photocatalytic properties under UV, Visible and Near-Infrared Irradiation. Adv. Mater. 25, 5075–5080 (2013).
**, G. et al. Ultrathin W18O49 Nanowires with Diameters below 1 nm: Synthesis, Near‐Infrared Absorption, Photoluminescence and Photochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 51, 2395–2399 (2012).
Chen, X. B., Liu, L., Yu, P. Y. & Mao, S. S. Increasing solar absorption for photocatalysis with black hydrogenated titanium dioxide Nanocrystals. Science 331, 746–750 (2011).
Obregon, S. & Colon, G. Evidence of upconversion luminescence contribution to the improved photoactivity of erbium doped TiO2 systems. Chem. Commun. 48, 7865–7867 (2012).
Li, H. T. et al. Near-infrared light controlled photocatalytic activity of carbon quantum dots for highly selective oxidation reaction. Nanoscale 5, 3289–3297 (2013).
Pak, C. et al. Extending the limit of low-energy photocatalysis: Dye reduction with PbSe/CdSe/CdS Core/Shell/Shell Nanocrystals of Varying Morphologies under Infrared Irradiation. J. Phys. Chem. C 116, 25407–25414 (2012).
Wang, H. L. et al. Semiconductor heterojunction photocatalysts: design, construction and photocatalytic performances. Chem. Soc. Rev. 43, 5234–5244 (2014).
Liu, L. Q., Ouyang, S. X. & Ye, J. H. Gold-Nanorod-Photosensitized Titanium Dioxide with Wide-Range Visible-Light Harvesting Based on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52, 6689–6693 (2013).
Linic, S., Christopher, P. & Ingram, D. B. Plasmonic-metal nanostructures for efficient conversion of solar to chemical energy. Nat. Mater. 10, 911–921 (2011).
Antonietti, M. & Fratzl, P. Biomimetic Principles in Polymer and Material Science. Macromol. Chem. Phys. 211, 166–170 (2010).
Wegst, U. G. K., Bai, H., Saiz, E., Tomsia, A. P. & Ritchie, R. O. Bioinspired structural materials. Nat. Mater. 14, 23–36 (2015).
Sun, J. H. et al. Bioinspired hollow semiconductor nanospheres as photosynthetic nanoparticles. Nat. Commun. 3, (2012).
Liu, J. & Antonietti, M. Bio-inspired NADH regeneration by carbon nitride photocatalysis using diatom templates. Energy Environ. Sci. 6, 1486–1493 (2013).
Behrendt, L. et al. Biofilm Growth and Near-Infrared Radiation-Driven Photosynthesis of the Chlorophyll d-Containing Cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina. Appl. Environ. Microb. 78, 3896–3904 (2012).
Spinner, M., Kovalev, A., Gorb, S. N. & Westhoff, G. Snake velvet black: Hierarchical micro- and nanostructure enhances dark colouration in Bitis rhinoceros. Sci. Rep. 3, 1846 (2013).
Campbell, A. L., Bunning, T. J., Stone, M. O., Church, D. & Grace, M. S. Surface ultrastructure of pit organ, spectacle and non pit organ epidermis of infrared imaging bold snakes: a scanning probe and scanning electron microscopy study. J. Struct. Biol. 126, 105–120 (1999).
Van Hooijdonk, E., Vandenbem, C., Berthier, S. & Vigneron, J. P. Bi-functional photonic structure in the Papilio nireus (Papilionidae): modeling by scattering-matrix optical simulations. Opt. Express 20, 22001–22011 (2012).
Yu, K. L., Fan, T. X., Lou, S. & Zhang, D. Biomimetic optical materials: Integration of nature’s design for manipulation of light. Prog. Mater. Sci. 58, 825–873 (2013).
Pris, A. D. et al. Towards high-speed imaging of infrared photons with bio-inspired nanoarchitectures. Nat. Photonics 6, 195–200 (2012).
Chen, H. J., Shao, L., Li, Q. & Wang, J. F. Gold nanorods and their plasmonic properties. Chem. Soc. Rev. 42, 2679–2724 (2013).
**a, Y. N., **ong, Y. J., Lim, B. & Skrabalak, S. E. Shape-Controlled Synthesis of Metal Nanocrystals: Simple Chemistry Meets Complex Physics? Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 48, 60–103 (2009).
Mubeen, S. et al. An autonomous photosynthetic device in which all charge carriers derive from surface plasmons. Nat. Nanotech. 8, 247–251 (2013).
Silva, C. G., Juarez, R., Marino, T., Molinari, R. & Garcia, H. Influence of Excitation Wavelength (UV or Visible Light) on the Photocatalytic Activity of Titania Containing Gold Nanoparticles for the Generation of Hydrogen or Oxygen from Water. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 595–602 (2011).
Cushing, S. K. et al. Photocatalytic Activity Enhanced by Plasmonic Resonant Energy Transfer from Metal to Semiconductor. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134, 15033–15041 (2012).
Seh, Z. W. et al. Janus Au-TiO2 Photocatalysts with Strong Localization of Plasmonic Near-Fields for Efficient Visible-Light Hydrogen Generation. Adv. Mater. 24, 2310–2314 (2012).
Chen, H. M. et al. Plasmon Inducing Effects for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: X-ray Absorption Approach to Electronic Structures. Acs Nano 6, 7362–7372 (2012).
Kinoshita, S. & Yoshioka, S. Structural colors in nature: The role of regularity and irregularity in the structure. Chemphyschem 6, 1442–1459 (2005).
Bae, W. G. et al. 25th Anniversary Article: Scalable Multiscale Patterned Structures Inspired by Nature: the Role of Hierarchy. Adv. Mater. 26, 675–699 (2014).
Sato, O., Kubo, S. & Gu, Z. Z. Structural Color Films with Lotus Effects, Superhydrophilicity and Tunable Stop-Bands. Accounts. Chem. Res. 42, 1–10 (2009).
Yu, K. L. et al. Structural integration design for enhanced photoluminescence in butterfly scales. Soft Matter 9, 2614–2620 (2013).
Zhao, Q. B. et al. Art of blackness in butterfly wings as natural solar collector. Soft Matter 7, 11433–11439 (2011).
Ono, Y., Kimura, Y., Ohta, Y. & Nishida, N. Antireflection effect in ultrahigh spatial-frequency holographic relief gratings. Appl. Optics 26, 1142–1146 (1987).
Abdi, F. F. et al. Efficient solar water splitting by enhanced charge separation in a bismuth vanadate-silicon tandem photoelectrode. Nat. Commun. 4, 2195 (2013).
Wang, J. R. & Osterloh, F. E. Limiting factors for photochemical charge separation in BiVO4/Co3O4, a highly active photocatalyst for water oxidation in sunlight. J. Meter. Chem. A 2, 9405–9411 (2014).
Zhang, L. M. et al. Efficient and Facile Synthesis of Gold Nanorods with Finely Tunable Plasmonic Peaks from Visible to Near-IR Range. Chem. Mater. 26, 1794–1798 (2014).
Guo, L. H., Zhou, X. D. & Kim, D. H. Facile fabrication of distance-tunable Au-nanorod chips for single-nanoparticle plasmonic biosensors. Biosens. Bioelectron. 26, 2246–2251 (2011).
Link, S., Mohamed, M. B. & El-Sayed, M. A. Simulation of the optical absorption spectra of gold nanorods as a function of their aspect ratio and the effect of the medium dielectric constant. J. Phys. Chem. B 103, 3073–3077 (1999).
Lee, J. et al. Bioconjugated Ag nanoparticles and CdTe nanowires: Metamaterials with field-enhanced light absorption. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 45, 4819–4823 (2006).
Anger, P., Bharadwaj, P. & Novotny, L. Enhancement and quenching of single-molecule fluorescence. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, (2006).
Linic, S., Aslam, U., Boerigter, C. & Morabito, M. Photochemical transformations on plasmonic metal nanoparticles. Nat. Mater. 14, 567–576 (2015).
Kowalska, E., Mahaney, O. O. P., Abe, R. & Ohtani, B. Visible-light-induced photocatalysis through surface plasmon excitation of gold on titania surfaces. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12, 2344–2355 (2010).
Liu, L. Q. et al. Plasmonic Janus-Composite Photocatalyst Comprising Au and C-TiO2 for Enhanced Aerobic Oxidation over a Broad Visible-Light Range. Adv. Funct. Mater. 24, 7754–7762 (2014).
Peter, L. M. Dynamic aspects of semiconductor photoelectrochemistry. Chem. Rev. 90, 753–769 (1990).
Zhao, Z. Y., Li, Z. S. & Zou, Z. G. Electronic structure and optical properties of monoclinic clinobisvanite BiVO4 . Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 13, 4746–4753 (2011).
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for financial support by the Foundation for National Natural Science Foundation of China (51425203), the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of PR China (201434), Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (15ZZ008), Program of Shanghai Subject Chief Scientist (15XD1501900), Shanghai Rising-Star Program (15QA1402700) and Program of International S&T Cooperation (2015DFE52870).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
H.Z. and R.Y. conceived and designed the experiments, analyzed the results and wrote the manuscript. R.Y. conducted the FDTD simulations. R.Y., M.C., T.L. and K.Z. performed the experiments. R.Y. and X.T. carried out three-dimensional drawing. T.F. and H.Z. supervised the project. H.Z., J.Y. and D.Z. provided advice and comments for the manuscript. R.Y. and M.C. revised the manuscript according to the reviewers’ comments. All authors contributed to the discussions of the results in this manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
About this article
Cite this article
Yan, R., Chen, M., Zhou, H. et al. Bio-inspired Plasmonic Nanoarchitectured Hybrid System Towards Enhanced Far Red-to-Near Infrared Solar Photocatalysis. Sci Rep 6, 20001 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep20001
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep20001
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
A family of perforated submicrometer core–shell plasmonic particles bio-inspired by leafhopper brochosomes
Optical and Quantum Electronics (2022)
-
In situ solid-state fabrication of hybrid AgCl/AgI/AgIO3 with improved UV-to-visible photocatalytic performance
Scientific Reports (2017)