Exceptional enhancement of H2 production in alkaline environment over plasmonic Au/TiO2 photocatalyst under visible light

A reaction environment modulation strategy was employed to promote the H2 production over plasmonic Au/semiconductor composites. It is shown that the fast consumption of the holes in plasmonic Au nanoparticles by methanol in alkaline reaction environment remarkably increases H2 generation rate under visible light. The photocatalytic reaction is mainly driven by the interband transition of plasmonic Au nanoparticles, and the apparent quantum efficiency of plasmon-assisted H2 production at pH 14 reaches 6% at 420 nm. The reaction environment control provides a simple and effective way for the highly efficient solar fuel production from biomass reforming through plasmonic photocatalysis in future.