Synergistic Effect of Topological Semimetal TiSi and Plasmonic Cu for Enhanced Photoelectrocatalytic Water Splitting of TiO 2 Nanorod Array

作者：Zhengwang Cheng, Shengjia Li, Yuan Cao, Gang Yuan, Jiyan Liu, Hui Lv, Zhuo Peng, Changcun Han, Mei Wang, Fhulufhelo Nemangwele, Xinguo Ma, Minghu Pan · 发表于：Inorganic Chemistry · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5c00103 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques、Copper-based nanomaterials and applications、Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion

Developing high-efficiency and low-cost catalysts for PEC water splitting is vital for solving the issues of energy consumption, environmental pollution, and global warming. In this study, we designed and prepared a composite photoanode TiO 2 /TiSi/Cu by depositing a topological semimetal TiSi film and plasmonic Cu nanoparticles onto a TiO 2 nanorod array. Due to the synergistic effect of the topological bands of TiSi and the SPR effect of Cu, TiO 2 /TiSi/Cu exhibits significantly enhanced optical absorption in the visible-light region. Under wavelength (λ) > 420 nm light irradiation, the photocurrent density of TiO 2 /TiSi/Cu reaches 4.46 mA cm –2 at 1.9 V vs RHE, about 17.84 times that of pure TiO 2 . The carrier lifetime is prolonged from 25.04 ns for pure TiO 2 to 31.13 ns for TiO 2 /TiSi/Cu. Furthermore, the TiO 2 /TiSi/Cu photoanode demonstrates good long-term cyclic stability, with an average hydrogen production rate of 8.12 μmol cm –2 h –1 . Our results indicate that the synergistic effect of topological semimetal TiSi and plasmonic Cu is an effective strategy to enhance the PEC performance of TiO 2 . This approach could be applied to other topological catalysts, providing new opportunities for developing novel and efficient catalysts.