Plasmonic coupling-boosted photothermal composite photocatalyst for achieving near-infrared photocatalytic hydrogen production

Zhouze Chen; Yujie Yan; Kaiqu Sun; Lei Tan; Feng Guo; Xin Du; Weilong Shi

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.01.150

Plasmonic coupling-boosted photothermal composite photocatalyst for achieving near-infrared photocatalytic hydrogen production

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 May:661:12-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.01.150. Epub 2024 Jan 26.

Authors

Zhouze Chen¹, Yujie Yan¹, Kaiqu Sun¹, Lei Tan², Feng Guo³, Xin Du⁴, Weilong Shi⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Material Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212003, PR China.
² Key Laboratory for Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China.
³ School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212003, PR China. Electronic address: gfeng0105@126.com.
⁴ College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China. Electronic address: dux@zzu.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Material Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212003, PR China. Electronic address: shiwl@just.edu.cn.

PMID: 38295694
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.01.150

Abstract

The development of photocatalysts that effectively utilize low-energy photons for efficient photocatalysis still faces a number of challenges. Herein, an efficient NIR-driven system based on WO_3-x/ZnIn₂S₄ (WO_3-x/ZIS) prepared by a simple low-temperature water-bath method, and the optimal WO_3-x/ZIS-3 composites can reach a hydrogen-production efficiency of 14.05 μmol g^-1h^-1 under NIR light irradiation. The localized surface plasmon (LSPR) resonance effect in WO_3-x quantum dots (QDs) not only broadens the ZIS photo-response range, but also the photothermal effect of WO_3-x can increase the local reaction temperature of WO_3-x/ZIS composite system, thus enhancing the photothermal-assisted photocatalytic activity. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the difference in work function between WO_3-x and ZIS can lead to the formation of interfacial electric field (IEF), which not only promotes the separation and migration efficiency of photogenerated carriers, but also facilitates the photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production. This study provides possible directions for the construction of NIR-driven photothermal-assisted photocatalytic hydrogen production system.

Keywords: H(2) production; Near-infrared; Photocatalyst; Photothermal-assisted.