Spitaleri Luca, Nicotra Giuseppe, Zimbone Massimo, Contino Annalinda, Maccarrone Giuseppe, Alberti Alessandra, Gulino Antonino
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy.
CNR-IMM, Zona industriale Strada VIII, 5, 95121 Catania, Italy.
ACS Omega. 2019 Sep 9;4(12):15061-15066. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b01850. eCollection 2019 Sep 17.
Gold nanostructures absorb visible light and show localized surface plasmon resonance bands in the visible region. Semiconducting ZnO nanostructures are excellent for ultraviolet detection, thanks to their wide band gap, large free exciton binding energy, and high electron mobility. Therefore, the coupling of gold and ZnO nanostructures represents the best-suited way to boost photodetection. With the above perspective, we report on the high photocatalytic activity of some Au_ZnO core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) recently prepared by a one-pot synthesis in which a [zinc citrate] complex acted as the ZnO precursor, a reducing agent for Au, and a capping anion for the obtained Au NPs. The overall nanostructures proved to be Au(111) NPs surrounded by a thin layer of [zinc citrate] that evolved to Au_ZnO core-shell nanostructures. Worthy of note, with this photocatalyst, sun light efficiently decomposes a standard methylene blue solution according to ISO 10678:2010. We rationalized photodetection, reaction rate, and quantum efficiency.
金纳米结构吸收可见光，并在可见光区域显示局域表面等离子体共振带。半导体氧化锌纳米结构因其宽带隙、大自由激子结合能和高电子迁移率，在紫外检测方面表现出色。因此，金和氧化锌纳米结构的耦合是提高光检测性能的最佳途径。基于上述观点，我们报道了最近通过一锅法合成的一些金-氧化锌核壳纳米颗粒（NPs）的高光催化活性，其中柠檬酸锌络合物充当氧化锌前驱体、金的还原剂以及所得金纳米颗粒的封端阴离子。整体纳米结构被证明是由一层薄的柠檬酸锌包围的金（111）纳米颗粒，该柠檬酸锌层演变成金-氧化锌核壳纳米结构。值得注意的是，使用这种光催化剂，根据ISO 10678:2010标准，太阳光能有效地分解标准亚甲基蓝溶液。我们对光检测、反应速率和量子效率进行了合理化分析。
