Surface plasmon resonance-induced photocatalysis by Au nanoparticles decorated mesoporous g-C₃N₄ nanosheets under direct sunlight irradiation

In recent years, surface plasmon-induced photocatalytic materials with tunable mesoporous framework have attracted considerable attention in energy conversion and environmental remediation. Herein we report a novel Au nanoparticles decorated mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (Au/mp-g-C₃N₄) nanosheets via a template-free and green in situ photo-reduction method. The synthesized Au/mp-g-C₃N₄ nanosheets exhibit a strong absorption edge in visible and near-IR region owing to the surface plasmon resonance effect of Au nanoparticles. More attractively, Au/mp-g-C₃N₄ exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than that of pure mesoporous and bulk g-C₃N₄ for the degradation of rhodamine B under sunlight irradiation. Furthermore, the photocurrent and photoluminescence studies demonstrated that the deposition of Au nanoparticles on the surface of mesoporous g-C₃N₄ could effectively inhibit the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers leading to the enhanced photocatalytic activity. More importantly, the synthesized Au/mp-g-C₃N₄ nanosheets possess high reusability. Hence, Au/mp-g-C₃N₄ could be promising photoactive material for energy and environmental applications.