Investigations on photocatalytic properties of core-shell nanostructures of plasmonic noble metals are scarce in the scientific literature. The research in this communication investigates the photocatalytic properties of Cu@Ag and Ag@Cu core-shell nanostructures. These were prepared by a green methodology using ethylene glycol as the solvent and the reductant. The reaction catalyzed on these nanostructures was the p-nitrophenol reduction by glycerol (a green reductant) to p-aminophenol. The reaction was carried out in the dark as well as under visible light. While these nanostructures catalyzed this reaction even in the dark, irradiation by visible light significantly boosted the reaction kinetics. Between the two, the Cu@Ag nanoparticles exhibited considerably enhanced plasmonic photocatalytic activity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed the ground state electronic structure of the core-shell nanostructure. Photo-excited states, simulated by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations, were used to get an understanding of the mechanism followed.

在科学文献中，对等离激元贵金属的核-壳纳米结构的光催化性能的研究很少。本交流中的研究探讨了Cu @ Ag和Ag @ Cu核壳纳米结构的光催化性能。这些通过使用乙二醇作为溶剂和还原剂的绿色方法来制备。在这些纳米结构上催化的反应是甘油（一种绿色还原剂）将对硝基苯酚还原为对氨基苯酚。该反应在黑暗以及可见光下进行。尽管这些纳米结构即使在黑暗中也能催化该反应，但可见光的照射显着提高了反应动力学。在两者之间，Cu @ Ag纳米颗粒表现出显着增强的等离子体光催化活性。密度泛函理论（DFT）计算揭示了核-壳纳米结构的基态电子结构。通过时变密度泛函理论（TD-DFT）计算来模拟光激发态，以了解其产生的机理。