Enhanced Photoelectrocatalysis Using a Bimetallic Plasmonic Near-Perfect Absorber

In this paper, we developed the fabrication of a plasmonic near-perfect absorber with a dense, uniform monolayer of AuPd alloyed nanoparticles as the absorbing layer. The nanoparticles were prepared by dewetting thin films (<4 nm) of each metal on a dielectric surface and extensive characterization confirmed the lack of other bimetallic phases. Plasmonic near-perfect absorbers containing an alloyed nanoparticle layer demonstrated both strong on-resonance absorption of incident light (up to 97%) and an improved photocatalytic response, compared to either monometallic derivative, for the photoelectrochemical reduction of water.