Plasmon-Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Current and Hydrogen Production of (MoS2-TiO2)/Au Hybrids

Three component hybrid (MoS2-TiO2)/Au substrate is fabricated by loading plasmonic Au nanorods on the MoS2 nanosheets coated TiO2 nanorod arrays. It is used for photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell and photocatalyst for hydrogen generation. Owing to the charge transfer between the MoS2-TiO2 hetero-structure, the PEC current density and hydrogen generation of TiO2 nanoarrays are enhanced 2.8 and 2.6 times. The broadband photochemical properties are further enhanced after Au nanorods loading. The plasmon resonance of Au nanorods provides more effective light-harvesting, induces hot-electron injection, and accelerates photo-excited charges separation. The results have suggested a route to construct nanohybrid by combining one-dimensional arrays and two-dimensional nanosheets, meanwhile have successfully utilized plasmonic nanorods as a sensitizer to improve the photochemical properties of the semiconductor nanocomposite.