Synthesis of Plasmonic Z-Scheme g-C3N4/W18O49 Nanocone Arrays with Enhanced Charge Separation

In this article, g-C3N4/W18O49 core-shell nanocone arrays were successfully prepared by pulsed laser deposition and plasma sputtering reaction deposition. Field scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectrum results showed that W18O49 nanoparticles were successfully grown on g-C3N4 nanocone arrays. UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy analyses showed that, when the W18O49 nanoparticles were relatively small, excess electrons on the surface of tungsten oxide were excited into the conduction band of g-C3N4 by a similar "hot electron" injection method due to local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). When the W18O49 deposition duration increased from 2 min to more than 5 min, W18O49 attached to the g-C3N4 nanocones changing from particles to continuous films, the LSPR effect disappeared. Construction of the g-C3N4/W18O49 heterostructure to form a Z-scheme structure realized the LSPR-excited hot electron injection and effective separation of photogenerated carriers at the heterojunction interface.