Fabrication of Au nanoparticle composite TiO2 shell arrays by controlled decomposition of polymer particles

•The large area monolayer PS colloidal crystals are prepared by the interface assembled approach in our experiment.•We fabricated Au nanoparticles (NPs) coated on TiO2 nanoshell arrays by thermal decomposing polymer particles on PS arrays.•By choosing proper temperature, the surface morphology of composite metal NPs, and TiO2 nanoshell arrays can be controlled.

In the paper, the novel TiO2 nanoshell arrays coated with Au nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by a simple and effective fabrication method with thermal decomposing polymer particles. Surface structure and composition of these arrays were evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that TiO2 nanoshell coated with Au NPs was changed into Au@TiO2 composite NPs with the rise of annealing temperature. These novel nanostructures have the potential applications in some research fields, such as photocatalysis, single molecule detection, and novel optoelectronic devices.