Surface-Plasmon-Enhanced Photo-electrocatalytic Ethylene Glycol Oxidation Based on Highly Open AuAg Nanobowls

Plasmonic metal nanocatalysts can be employed to efficiently boost the conventional catalytic reaction through the energy of photons. This work demonstrates a facile ultrasonic-assisted galvanic replacement method to successfully fabricate the highly open AuAg nanobowls with tunable atomic ratio, which act as the catalytically active site and the light absorbers simultaneously. By virtue of the synergistic and electronic effect between Au and Ag, as well as unique bowl like structure, the resulted AuAg nanobowls exhibit superior electrocatalytic performances toward ethylene glycol oxidation than that of the bare Au. More interestingly, such AuAg nanobowls also show the surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-induced enhancement of electrocatalytic performances when the modified electrodes are upon the visible light irradiation, 2.3 times higher than that in the traditional ambient electrocatalytic oxidation. This finding opens a new way for designing a myriad of plasmonic metal nanocatalysts with desirable nanostructures for solar fuel cells and other devices.