Noble-metal-free plasmonic photocatalyst: hydrogen doped semiconductors

The unique capacity of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) offers a new opportunity to overcome the limited efficiency of semiconductor photocatalyst. Here we unravel that LSPR, which usually occurs in noble metal nanoparticles, can be realized by hydrogen doping in noble-metal-free semiconductor using TiO2 as a model photocatalyst. Moreover, its LSPR is located in infrared region, which supplements that of noble metal whose LSPR is generally in the visible region, making it possible to extend the light response of photocatalyst to infrared region. The near field enhancement is shown to be comparable with that of noble-metal nanoparticles, indicating that highly enhanced light absorption rate can be expected. The present work can provide a key guideline for the creation of highly efficient noble-metal-free plasmonic photocatalysts and have a much wider impact in infrared bioimaging and spectroscopy where infrared LSPR is essential.