Au-Cu_2-Te Plasmonic Heteronanostructure Photoelectrocatalysts

Semiconductor nanocrystals coupled with plasmonic Au nanoparticles have been widely studied as photoelectrocatalysts for solar water splitting. Among these, heterostructures of copper chalcogenides with Au remained a unique category for their dual plasmon character. However, while sulfides and selenides of copper have been extensively reported, heterostructures of copper tellurides with Au have not been explored. Herein, the plasmonic semiconductor Cu_2-Te disks grown on Au nanoparticles (disk-on-dot) were explored as efficient photoelectrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). This has been successfully designed by growing Cu_2-Te disks on presynthesized Au nanoparticles under optimized reaction conditions. The resulting heterostructured nanocrystals acted as efficient photoelectrocatalysts for the H₂ evolution reaction with a low Tafel slope and less cathodic overpotential in the presence of light. Details of their synthesis, characterization, optical properties, and electrocatalytic activities are studied and reported in this letter.