Construction of Spatially Separated Gold Nanocrystal/Cuprous Oxide Architecture for Plasmon-Driven CO2 Reduction

Plasmonic hot electrons have shown great potential in photocatalysis, but little is known about the hot hole-driven chemical reactions due to the lack of desired plasmonic metal/p-type semiconductor architectures. Herein, we describe a general and robust strategy for the site-selective growth of a p-type semiconductor, Cu2O on Au nanocrystals (NCs), to produce diverse spatially separated Au/Cu2O heterostructures. The preferential growth of Cu2O on the tips/ends/edges of Au NCs is directed by the sparse coverage of the surfactant molecules at the high-curvature sites of Au NCs. The obtained dumbbell-shaped nanostructures serve as the ideal platforms for probing the hot-hole-mediated CO2 reduction reaction. Benefiting from the hot-hole injection, a new reaction pathway is unlocked, and the C2 product activity and selectivity are significantly improved. This study demonstrates the genuine superiority of the dumbbell-shaped nanostructures in photocatalysis, offering a new unique avenue to explore the underlying mechanism of hot-hole-mediated chemical reactions.