Plasmon Mediated Synthesis of Titanium Nitride-Nickel Nanocomposite and Their Application in Photocatalytic Reduction of Bicarbonate

Plasmon enhanced catalysis is a sustainable, energy-efficient means of triggering a reaction
through utilization of solar light. Refractory stable plasmonic nanoparticles such as titanium
nitride (TiN) can effectively absorb solar light and convert that into heat or generate photoexcited
charge carriers. A composite catalyst developed combining the plasmonic properties of TiN with
transition metal nanocatalysts Ni or Pt can effectively drive a wide range of catalytic reactions
using solar light. To investigate this effect, TiN-Pt and TiN-Ni nanoparticles were synthesized
through photodeposition of Ni and Pt onto TiN. The composition of the composite nanoparticles
were confirmed using UV Vis spectroscopy, HRTEM, EDX, XPS and XRD. The catalytic effect
of these composite catalysts was determined by their ability to aid in the reduction of bicarbonate
to formate with glycerol as the hole-scavenger. It was found that TiN-Ni enhanced that particular
reaction better than TiN-Pt; although, TiN-Pt also achieved greater conversion than undoped
TiN. The findings of this study can be applied to develop other plasmonic catalysts which can
successfully enhance different energy extensive reactions. The work is funded by ACS PRF (#
60878 UR-6).