Mesoporous Nickel Silicate@gold Nanoparticles: An Excellent Plasmonicphotocatalyst for Photo-Generation of H2 by Visible Light

Abstract

Mesoporous silica has drawn attention as a substrate for varieties of photocatalytic systems because ofhigh area of surface as well as transparency towards visible light. Herein a novel core-shell structured plasmon modified nickel silicate photocatalyst has been synthesized over mesoporous silica. The photocatalyst has been well characterized through P-XRD, scanning electron microscopy,EDX spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic techniques. The as synthesized material shows excellent evident light sourcecompelled with hydrogen generation contrary to neat material. An enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution can be attributed to surface modification using mesoporous silica along with plasmonic gold nanoparticles presence which enhances visible light absorption efficiency through LSPR effect.