Direct Observation of Z-Scheme Route in CuS/ZnCdS Heteronanoplates for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

Although photocatalytic hydrogen production from water holds great potential as a renewable and sustainable energy alternative, the practical application of the technology demands cost-effective, simple photocatalytic systems with high efficiency in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, the synthesis and characterization of CuS/ZnCdS heterostructured nanoplates (CuS/ZnCdS HNPs) as a high photocatalytic system are reported. The cost-effective, hierarchical structures are easily prepared using the CuS NPs as the seed by the epitaxial growth of the ZnCdS nanocrystals (NCs).

Photo-self-Fenton Reaction Mediated by Atomically Dispersed Ag-Co Photocatalysts toward Efficient Degradation of Organic Pollutants.

Achieving the complete mineralization of persistent pollutants in wastewater is still a big challenge. Here, we propose an efficient photo-self-Fenton reaction for the degradation of different pollutants using the high-density (Ag: 22 wt %) of atomically dispersed AgCo dual sites embedded in graphic carbon nitride (AgCo-CN). Comprehensive experimental measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the Ag and Co dual sites in AgCo-CN play a critical role in accelerating the photoinduced charge separation and forming the self-Fenton redox centers, respectively.

Type-I CdSe@CdS@ZnS Heterostructured Nanocrystals with Long Fluorescence Lifetime.

Conventional single-component quantum dots (QDs) suffer from low recombination rates of photogenerated electrons and holes, which hinders their ability to meet the requirements for LED and laser applications. Therefore, it is urgent to design multicomponent heterojunction nanocrystals with these properties. Herein, we used CdSe quantum dot nanocrystals as a typical model, which were synthesized by means of a colloidal chemistry method at high temperatures.

Infrared Light-Induced Anomalous Defect-Mediated Plasmonic Hot Electron Transfer for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

Efficient utilization of infrared (IR) light, which occupies almost half of the solar energy, is an important but challenging task in solar-to-fuel transformation. Herein, we report the discovery of CuS@ZnS core@shell nanocrystals (CSNCs) with strong localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) characteristics in the IR light region showing enhanced photocatalytic activity in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). A unique "plasmon-induced defect-mediated carrier transfer" (PIDCT) at the heterointerfaces of the CSNCs divulged by time-resolved transient spectroscopy enables producing a high quantum yield of 29.

Photogenerated hole traps in metal-organic-framework photocatalysts for visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution.

Efficient electron-hole separation and carrier utilization are key factors in photocatalytic systems. Here, we use a metal-organic framework (NH-UiO-66) modified with inner platinum nanoparticles and outer cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles to construct the ternary composite Pt@NH-UiO-66/CdS, which has a spatially separated, hierarchical structure for enhanced visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution. Relative to pure NH-UiO-66, Pt@NH-UiO-66, and NH-UiO-66/CdS samples, the Pt@NH-UiO-66/CdS composite exhibits much higher hydrogen yields with an apparent quantum efficiency of 40.