LAUSR

Photoactive hybrid nanostructures composed of metal oxides and plasmonic metals are able to perform the conversion of radiant (solar) energy into electrical or chemical energy. However, their use in large-scale practical applications still requires their photoconversion efficiency to be improved. In this work, the light-harvesting properties of hematite/plasmonic metal rodlike hybrid nanostructures are investigated on the basis of discrete dipole approximation simulations. The effects of the length and nature of the metallic counterpart on the far- and near-field optical properties of the hybrid nanostructure are analyzed in detail. The implemented methodology allowed us to assess the contribution of each component of the hybrid nanostructure to the absorption efficiency, Qabs, separately. In turn, the Qabs values obtained were employed to determine the absorbed photon flux, ϕ, within the α-Fe2O3 component, a relevant quantity directly related to the photoconversion efficiency. It was found that both abso...