Surface plasmon resonance metal-coupled biomass carbon modified TiO_(2) nanorods for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Exploring efficient and stable photoanode materials is a necessary link to realize the practical application of solar-driven photoelectrochemical(PEC)water splitting.Hence,we prepared rutile TiO_(2) nanorods,with a width of 50 nm,which was growth in situ on carbon cloth(TiO_(2)@CC)by hydrothermal reaction.And then,Ag nanoparticles(NPs)and biomass N,S-C NPs were chosen for the additional modification of the fabricated TiO_(2) nanorods to produce broccoli-like Ag-N,S-C/TiO_(2)@CC nanocomposites.According to the result of ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy(UV-vis)and PEC water splitting performance tests,Ag-N,S-C/TiO_(2)@CC broadens the absorption region of TiO_(2)@CC from the ultraviolet region to the visible regio n.Under AM 1.5 G solar light irradiation,the photocurrent density of Ag-N,S-C/TiO_(2)@CC is 89.8μA·cm^(-2),which is 11.8 times higher than TiO_(2)@CC.Under visible light irradiation,the photocurrent density of Ag-N,S-C/TiO_(2)@CC reaches to 12.6μA·cm^(-2),which is 21.0 times higher than TiO_(2)@CC.Moreover,Ag-N,S-C/TiO_(2)@CC shows a photocurrent responses in full pH range.It can be found that Ag NPs and N,S-C NPs play key roles in broaden the absorption range of TiO_(2) nanorods to the visible light region and,promote the occurrence of PEC water oxidation reaction due to the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag NPs and the synergistic effect of N,S-C NPs.The mechanism demonstrated that Ag-N,S-C/TiO_(2)@CC can separate the photogenerated electron-hole pairs effectively and transfer the photogenerated electrons to the photocathode(Pt plate)in time.This research provides a new strategy for exploration surface plasma metal coupled biomass carbon materials in the field of PEC water splitting.