Room-Temperature and Aqueous-Phase Synthesis of Plasmonic Molybdenum Oxide Nanoparticles for Visible-Light-Enhanced Hydrogen Generation

摘要

A straightforward aqueous synthesis of MoO3-x nanoparticles at room temperature was developed by using (NH4)(6)Mo(7)O(24)4H(2)O and MoCl5 as precursors in the absence of reductants, inert gas, and organic solvents. SEM and TEM images indicate the as-prepared products are nanoparticles with diameters of 90-180nm. The diffuse reflectance UV-visible-near-IR spectra of the samples indicate localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties generated by the introduction of oxygen vacancies. Owing to its strong plasmonic absorption in the visible-light and near-infrared region, such nanostructures exhibit an enhancement of activity toward visible-light catalytic hydrogen generation. MoO3-x nanoparticles synthesized with a molar ratio of Mo-VI/Mo-V 1:1 show the highest yield of H-2 evolution. The cycling catalytic performance has been investigated to indicate the structural and chemical stability of the as-prepared plasmonic MoO3-x nanoparticles, which reveals its potential application in visible-light catalytic hydrogen production.