Plasmonic CuCo/Carbon Dots: An Unconventional Photocatalyst Used for Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

Under light irradiation, plasmonic carriers produced from the nonradiative decay of surface plasmon resonance are capable of driving photocatalysis at the surfaces of plasmonic photocatalysts. However, plasmonic photocatalysts mainly focus on noble metals, and their practical applications are limited because of their high cost and low abundance. Here, we prepare non-noble plasmonic CuCo bimetal-based photocatalysts using a hydrothermal method and evaluate their photocatalytic water splitting ability. Detailed analysis of their photocatalytic activities demonstrates that the CuCo7:3 material with an appropriate molar ratio shows the most excellent photocatalytic activity toward water splitting, 3.1 times higher than that of pure Cu. Furthermore, the as-prepared CuCo7:3 is modified with carbon dots (CDs), showing that the photocatalytic ability is greatly enhanced because of more efficient electron–hole separation. The as-prepared CuCo/CDs exhibit outstanding stability after successive durability tests. These results provide important insights into plasmon-driven photocatalytic devices, promoting the further development of unconventional photocatalysts in the photocatalytic field.