Plasmon enhanced visible light photocatalysis for TiO₂ supported Pd nanoparticles

A photocatalyst consisting of nanostructured Pd photochemically deposited on 20 nm TiO₂ displays a reaction half-life for rhodamine b decolourisation of 0.5 minute compared to the 9.4 minutes for unmodified P25 under identical reaction conditions. We associate this increased decolourisation rate to the increase in solar light harvesting which we have measured at 8% due to a significant red shift in the absorption profile of the catalyst. We relate the increased absorption of light with a visible active plasmon effect that is associated with the Pd nanostructures on the TiO₂. This overall red-shift in the light harvesting for the catalyst leads to photocatalytic activity for excitations up to 600 nm.