In-situ synthesis of Au–CdS plasmonic photocatalyst by continuous spray pyrolysis and its visible light photocatalysis

• The high purity Au–CdS hybrid plasmonic nanoparticles were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique.
• The in-situ growth process of Au in CdS is unique gives plasmonic effect is discussed.
• The effect of Au loading in CdS on optical and photocatalytic properties is investigated.
• Au0.15–CdS shows the best degradation efficiency of 90% for MB dye.
• The CoSP method has potential to prepare number of other M–S hybrid materials.

Surfactant free Au–CdS hybrid plasmonic nanoparticles have been synthesized in-situ by using simple inexpensive continuous spray pyrolysis (CoSP) technique with the varying Au fraction. In-situ grown gold metal nanoparticles with controlled Au cluster size from 10 to 30 nm in CdS matrix were obtained from this process. The surface plasmon band of Au nanoparticles in CdS appeared at λmax ∼ 620 nm and reveal red shifted at λmax ∼ 655 nm as Au loading increases. The CoSP prepared Au–CdS plasmonic nanoparticles have been found to show color tuning, enhancement in the absorption/extinction and PL quenching properties in the Vis- and NIR regions. Photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under visible light was used to evaluate the performance of these CoSP made Au–CdS NPs with varying Au loading. The MB photodegradation efficiency was optimal (90%) for minimal Au loading of 0.15 mM which is 26% higher than pure CdS nanoparticles. The performance of CoSP prepared nanoparticles was also confirmed degradation study of by rhodamine B (RhB) dye.

Various Au–CdS hybrid nanoparticles have been synthesized in-situ by using simple inexpensive CoSP technique. They have been shown the color tuning, enhancement in the absorption/extinction, PL quenching and enhanced Photocatalytic properties in the visible and NIR regions.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide