Rational Design of a Core-Shell Structured Plasmonic Au@MIL-100(Fe) Nanocomposite for Efficient Photocatalysis

The utilization of solar light to trigger organic syntheses for the production of value-added chemicals has attracted increasing recent research attention. The integration of plasmonic AuNPs (NPs = nanoparticles) with MOFs would provide a new way for the development of highly efficient photocatalytic systems. In this manuscript, a bottle-around-ship strategy was adopted for the successful synthesis of a core-shell structured Au-pvp@MIL-100(Fe) (PVP = polyvinylpyrrolidone) nanocomposite in room temperature. The as-obtained core-shell structured Au-pvp@MIL-100(Fe) show improved photocatalytic performance for benzyl alcohol oxidation under visible light, because of the migration of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) excited hot electrons from plasmonic Au NPs to MIL-100(Fe), resulting in the production of more active O-2(center dot-) radicals. The removal of the capping agent PVP from Au-pvp@MIL-100(Fe) significantly enhanced the photocatalytic performance, because of an improved charge transfer from plasmonic Au NPs to MIL-100(Fe). This study demonstrates an efficient strategy of fabricating superior photocatalytic systems by a rational coupling of plasmonic Au NPs and photocatalytic active MOFs into a core-shell structured nanocomposite.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates an efficient strategy of fabricating superior photocatalytic systems by a rational coupling of plasmonic Au NPs and photocatalytic active MOFs into a core-shell structured nanocomposite. The resulting nanocomposite shows improved photocatalytic performance under visible light, generating more active radicals. The removal of the capping agent further enhances the photocatalytic performance.