Photocatalysis is considered to be one of the most promising technologies for tackling the energy crisis and environmental pollution by directly harvesting and utilizing solar energy. However, most of the photocatalysts are only able to capture photons in the ultraviolet (UV) and blue ranges, with a large portion of solar energy remaining unutilized. Plasmonic Au nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively incorporated with semiconductor for efficient photocatalysis, benefiting from their unique size-tunable localized surface plasmon resonance effect. Herein, we will present some of our recent development in Au plasmonic NPs and their applications in photocatalytic environmental remediation. One example is about our recent synthesized nanocomposites based on plasmonic Au NPs, in situ synthesized lanthanide-doped NaYF4 (NYF) on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) with high NYF yield and high coupling efficiency between NYF and g-C3N4. It shows excellent stability, and enhanced UV-, visible- and near infrared-light photocatalytic activity in the degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater.&lt;span style="font-size:10.8333px"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;Furthermore, compared with our previously reported results, this work renders a much more facile approach to realize the concept of combining photocatalysis, plasmonic and upconversion. Another example is the latest subtly designed Au NP-loaded hierarchical TiO2 spheres, which exhibit both strikingly high activity and selectivity in 4-Nitrophenol reduction to 4-Aminophenol under visible light irradiation. In addition to yielding novel and interesting materials and properties, the current work also provides physical insights that can contribute to the future development of plasmon-enhanced broadband photocatalysts and their applications in energy and environmental areas.

Broadband solar harvesting via plasmonic photocatalysts for environmental applications

256th National Meeting (2018)

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