Plasmonic Metal Nanoparticle Loading to Enhance the Photothermal Conversion of Carbon Fibers

Photothermal conversion with high efficiency depends on not only absorption but also on the process and the speed of the photothermal conversion. Herein, we report the combination of carbon fibers (CFs) and metal nanoparticles (NPs) with a localized surface plasma resonance (LSPR) effect. On investigating their optical properties and the photothermal conversion in water evolution, we observe that all of the metal NPs/CFs perform better than the CFs. The rate of water evolution on Au NPs/CFs is up to 9.9 ± 0.2 kg·m–2·h–1 and those of Ag NP/CFs and Cu NPs/CFs are 8.6 ± 0.1 and 7.1 ± 0.2 kg·m–2·h–1, respectively, which are higher than that of the CFs (7.0 ± 0.3 kg·m–2·h–1). Heat localization and the LSPR effect of metal nanoparticles are considered the main reasons for the enhanced photothermal conversion. The mechanism of the LSPR effect enhancing the photothermal conversion is that the metal NP loading provides more paths for energy conversion and accelerates the photothermal conversion.