Dual-plasmon-enhanced nitrophenol hydrogenation over W18O49-Au heterostructures studied at the single-particle level

The use of plasmonic materials is an effective way to enhance light absorption and thus boost catalytic performance in photocatalysis. In this study, W18O49-Au heterostructures were constructed to couple the advantages of both W18O49 and Au, enhancing the light absorption and carrier separation ability of this dual-plasmonic system. The W18O49-Au heterostructures exhibited highly enhanced performance for nitrophenol hydrogenation, and the rate constant reached 0.2044 min(-1), which was 12 and 102 times higher than that of Au and W18O49, respectively. Besides, a hot electron injection process from W18O49 to Au was demonstrated by single-particle photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, which is beneficial for boosting the performance, because Au is the active site in this reaction. This finding will shed light on the coupling effect and energy transfer process in the dual-plasmonic system.