Hydrogen production using Ag-Pd/TiO2 bimetallic catalysts: is there a combined effect of surface plasmon resonance with the Schottky mechanism on the photo-catalytic activity?(Conference Presentation)

A series of Ag-Pd/TiO2 catalysts have been prepared, characterized and tested for H2 production activities from water in the presence of organic sacrificial agents. The synergistic effect of metallic properties (plasmonic and Schottky mechanisms) was investigated. XPS results indicated that silver is present in the form of its oxides (Ag2O and AgO) at 0.2-0.4 wt. % loading while palladium is present as PdO and Pd metal at similar loading. However, metallic character for silver particles increases while that of palladium metal particles decreases with increasing their % in the investigated range (0-1 wt. %). HRTEM results coupled with EDX analyses indicated the presence of two types of Ag containing particles (large ones with about 4-6 nm and smaller ones with ca. 1nm in size). Palladium was only found forming Ag-Pd alloy/composite with a wide size distribution range between 10-60 nm. Both particles are composed of silver and palladium, however. Optimal photocatalytic H2 production rates were obtained for catalysts with a palladium to silver ratios between 4 and 1.5 in the case of bimetallic catalysts. In addition, H2 production rates showed linear dependency on plasmonic response of Ag. The study demonstrates that increased H2 production rates can be achieved from an understanding of plasmonic and Schottky properties of metals loaded on top of the semiconductor.