High-surface-area plasmonic MoO3-x: rational synthesis and enhanced ammonia borane dehydrogenation activity

Well-crystallized, high-surface-area plasmonic MoO3-x was synthesized by combining an evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) process and a subsequent hydrogen reduction at a certain temperature. The intrinsic anisotropic crystal growth process of tiny MoO3 nuclei to MoO3 nanosheets was successfully inhibited. Detailed characterization by means of XRD, TEM, N-2 physisorption, and XPS measurements revealed that the synthesized MoO3-x not only showed a strong localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) under incident light but also had a relatively large specific surface area. The specific surface area (S-BET) of MoO3-x after reduction at 200 degrees C was 30.0 m(2) g(-1), which was 22.7 and 9.1 times higher than those of commercially available MoO3 and our previously reported MoO3-x nanosheets, respectively. We also demonstrate that such a semiconductor with a large surface area could be used as a highly efficient catalyst that dramatically enhances the dehydrogenation activity for ammonia borane (NH3BH3; AB) under visible light irradiation.