Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance and Field Alignment Boosted Photocatalytic H ₂ O ₂ Production of ZnO/Au–CN through Configuration Design

Highly aligned ZnO nanoarrays are designed that exhibit dual catalytic and thermoelectric properties. By integrating C 3 N 4 nanosheets onto the ZnO nanoarrays, a vertical ZnO–C 3 N 4 (ZnO–CN) thermoelectric catalytic heterojunction is constructed. The alignment of thermoelectric potential along the ZnO nanorods largely enhances the intensity of the built‐in electric field within the heterojunction. Additionally, by introducing Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) on the top of ZnO nanoarrays, thermoelectric performance is further elevated due to a 2.8‐fold increase in temperature gradient induced by localized surface plasmon resonance effect. Experimentally, the ZnO/Au‐CN demonstrates a photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production rate of 43.79 mmol h −1 m −2 with 2 °C cooling water. Herein, an avenue in the design of novel thermoelectric catalytic systems is provided.