Efficient Hot Electron Transfer from Small Au Nanoparticles

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Abstract
Many important chemical transformations enabled by plasmonic hot carrier photocatalysis have been reported, although their efficiencies are often too low for practical applications. We examine how the efficiency of plasmon-induced hot electron transfer depends on the Au particle size in Au-tipped CdS nanorods. We show that with decreasing Au particle size, the plasmon width increases due to enhanced surface damping contributions. The excitation of Au nanoparticles leads to an instrument response time limited hot electron transfer process to CdS (<<140 fs). The quantum efficiency of this process increases from ~1% to~18% as the particle size decreases from 5.5±1.1nm to 1.6±0.5nm due to both enhanced hot electron generation and transfer efficiencies in small Au particles. Our finding suggests that decreasing plasmonic particle size is an effective approach for improving plasmon-induced hot carrier transfer efficiency and provides important insight for the rational improvement of plasmonic hot carrier-based devices.
Funding Information
  • Basic Energy Sciences (DE-FG02-12ER16347, DE-SC0008798)
  • China Scholarship Council

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