Synthetic Design of Gold Nanoparticles on Anatase TiO2 {001} for Enhanced Visible Light Harvesting

A simple and green photodeposition route is developed for the selective deposition of Au nanoparticles on anatase TiO2 {001} facets to prepare a Au-TiO2 localized surface plasmon resonance photocatalyst system. The surface-capping agents on Au nanoparticles can be completely removed during the photodeposition process, and the close contact between the Au and TiO2 support in the as-prepared Au-TiO2 system is guaranteed, as confirmed by thermogravimetric and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. Accordingly, the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs via localized surface plasmon resonance is greatly enhanced, and promoted activity of Au-TiO2 in both photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and methylene blue decomposition could be obtained under visible light irradiation.