In this study, a 4 in. CMK-8-Nafion membrane was fabricated using three-dimensional cubic ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-8 blended with a Nafion polymer. Plasmon-resonance hot electrons and holes from Au nanoparticles (NPs) combined with this CMK-8-Nafion membrane resulted in the effective decomposition of methyl orange (MO) due to the synergetic work of hot carriers with mesoporous carbon; a sample of Au/CMK-8-Nafion exposed to outdoor sunlight radiation for 150 min successfully removed 97% of MO. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to examine the generation of hydroxyl groups (OH-) during decomposition. Finally, the spatial distribution of hydroxyl groups was also investigated across the different coverage densities of plasmonic Au NPs.
Keywords: FTIR spectroscopy; hot electron transfer; mesoporous carbon; photocatalytic water purification; plasmonic nanoparticles.