AI Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on creating an advanced photocatalyst using a hierarchical heteronanostructure made of upconverting, plasmonic, and semiconducting materials to effectively harvest solar energy across a broad spectrum (UV to near-infrared).
- The researchers developed a specific type of hybrid nanostructure using lanthanide-doped NaYF, gold nanocrystals, and TiO, which shows high efficiency in producing hydrogen through photocatalysis when exposed to simulated sunlight.
- The findings reveal that energy is transferred within the hybrid structure during photocatalysis, mainly through a process called Förster resonance energy transfer, significantly improving photocatalytic activity.
Article Abstract
Harvesting full-spectrum solar energy is a critical issue for developing high-performance photocatalysts. Here, we report a hierarchical heteronanostructure consisting of upconverting, plasmonic, and semiconducting materials as a solar-to-chemical energy conversion platform that can exploit a wide range of sunlight (from ultraviolet (UV) to near-infrared). Lanthanide-doped NaYF nanorod-spherical Au nanocrystals-TiO ternary hybrid nanostructures with a well-controlled configuration and intimate contact between the constituent materials could be synthesized by a wet-chemical method. Notably, the prepared ternary hybrids exhibited high photocatalytic activity for the H evolution reaction under simulated solar and near-infrared light irradiation due to their broadband photoresponsivity and strong optical interaction between the constituents. Through systematic studies on the mechanism of energy transfer during the photocatalysis of the ternary hybrids, we revealed that upconverted photon energy from the upconversion domain transfers to the Au and TiO domains primarily through the Förster resonance energy transfer process, resulting in enhanced photocatalysis.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c16043 | DOI Listing |
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