Visible-light photocatalysis of PDI nanowires enhanced by plasmonic effect of the gold nanoparticles

PDI molecules catalysts had shown much great advantages such as optical properties and chemical electronic tunability, rich elements of resources and structural diversity. These organic materials are considered as a promising route to mitigate water pollution or other environmental problems. So, many researchers have conduct related research in the past few decades. Otherwise, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of the AuNPs could promote the absorption of visible light effectively. Herein, SPR-supported visible-light-responsive photocatalyst of PDI@AuNPs were prepared through the electrostatic adsorption. The results show that the PDI@AuNPs composite appeared higher visible light degradation rate (k) towards the phenol, which is 1.7 times than the PDI nanowires. The highly photocatalytic activity of the PDI@AuNPs could own to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of AuNPs. Specifically, SPR effect of the AuNPs and the RET process between AuNPs and PDI could be beneficial for utilizing the visible light. Thus, the visible light utilization of PDI@AuNPs is higher than the PDI nanowires. Meanwhile, the ability of electrons and holes separation are greatly improved by the lower Fermi level of Au, which is favorable for the efficient transfer of the photo-excited electron-hole pairs. Overall, the system of the PDI@AuNPs composite is responsible for the highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of pollutants. What's more, the PDI@AuNPs composite simultaneously exhibits great stability and cycle utilization than the pure PDI.