Thio linkage between CdS quantum dots and UiO-66-type MOFs as an effective transfer bridge of charge carriers boosting visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

Siman Mao; Yajun Zou; Guotai Sun; Lingzhen Zeng; Zhiye Wang; Dandan Ma; Ying Guo; Yonghong Cheng; Cheng Wang; Jian-Wen Shi

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.07.121

Thio linkage between CdS quantum dots and UiO-66-type MOFs as an effective transfer bridge of charge carriers boosting visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Jan 1;581(Pt A):1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.07.121. Epub 2020 Jul 28.

Authors

Siman Mao¹, Yajun Zou¹, Guotai Sun¹, Lingzhen Zeng², Zhiye Wang², Dandan Ma¹, Ying Guo², Yonghong Cheng¹, Cheng Wang³, Jian-Wen Shi⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Center of Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy, School of Electrical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China.
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China.
³ Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, PR China. Electronic address: wangchengxmu@xmu.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Center of Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy, School of Electrical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China. Electronic address: jianwen.shi@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32771721
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.07.121

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)/semiconductor hybrids have attracted attention in photocatalysis. Herein, we report a new strategy to use thiol-laced UiO-66 (UiO-66-(SH)₂) as a porous and functional support for anchoring CdS quantum dots (QDs) (size: 0.5/3 nm). Cd²⁺ ions are firstly absorbed into the cavities of UiO-66-(SH)₂ MOFs via coordinating to the thiol groups in the presence of a base to produce UiO-66-(S-Cd)₂, then thiourea is added to form UiO-66-(S-CdS)₂ (abbreviated as UiOS-CdS). It is clearly revealed by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy that the thio linkage between UiO-66 and CdS acts as an effective transfer bridge of charge carriers, which greatly promotes the interface transfer process of photogenerated electrons and holes, boosting the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance from water splitting. The optimized UiOS-CdS exhibits a photocatalytic H₂ production rate of 153.2 μmol h^-1 (10 mg of catalyst) under visible-light irradiation (λ > 420 nm) in the absence of nobel metal co-catalyst, corrsponding to an apparent quantum efficiency of 11.9% at 420 nm. This work may provide an effective strategy to construct QDs-linker-MOFs stylephotocatalysts for efficient energy conversion.

Keywords: Hydrogen evolution; Metal-organic frameworks; Photocatalysis; Thio linkage; Thiol-functionalized UiO-66.