Theoretical and photo-electrochemical studies of surface plasmon induced visible light absorption of Ag loaded TiO2 nanotubes for water splitting

Vertically aligned TiO2 nanotubes (TiO2-NTs), obtained by anodization in organic electrolyte, are decorated with 15 nm Ag nanoparticles prepared by a micro-wave assisted polyol synthesis. The Ag/TiO2 system is characterized by electronic microscopies in order to build a Finite Differential Time Domain (FDTD) model to simulate the interaction of light with the system. By combining UV-visible spectroscopy and FDTD simulations, the observed red shift in the surface plasmon resonance wavelength of the Ag nanoparticles, deposited on TiO2, is explained. The Ag/TiO2-NT system is used as photoanode in a photoelectrochemical water splitting setup and shows an increasing Incident Photon to Current Conversion Efficiency (IPCE) in the visible light domain with an increasing amount of deposited Ag. The spectral position of this activity enhancement coincides with the one expected from the FDTD calculations for the surface plasmon resonance of the Ag nanoparticles deposited on TiO2. Published by AIP Publishing.