Boosting photocatalytic hydrogen production of CdS/BiVO nanoplates by transferring in-plane plasmon resonant energy of gold nanoparticles

A free-standing plate-type plasmon-enhanced Z-scheme photocatalytic system has been established via CdS deposition on Au-decorated BiVO 4 nanoplates (CdS/Au on BiVO 4 ). Through the enhancement from in-plane plasmon resonant energy transfer of gold, the hydrogen evolution rate of CdS/Au on BiVO 4 was enhanced about 7.7 times higher than that of the gold-free photocatalyst. The in-plane plasmon resonant energy transfer (PRET) effect from gold significantly boosts the hydrogen evolution of the Z-scheme CdS/BiVO 4 photocatalyst.