Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is a promising technique for the direct conversion of solar energy into chemical fuels. Colloidal quantum dots with tunable band gap and versatile surface properties remain among the most prominent targets in photocatalysis despite their frequent toxicity, which is detrimental for environmentally friendly technological implementations. In the present work, all-inorganic sulfide-capped InP and InP/ZnS quantum dots are introduced as competitive and far less toxic alternatives for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in aqueous solution, reaching turnover numbers up to 128,000 based on quantum dots with a maximum internal quantum yield of 31%. In addition to the favorable band gap of InP quantum dots, in-depth studies show that the high efficiency also arises from successful ligand engineering with sulfide ions. Due to their small size and outstanding hole capture properties, sulfide ions effectively extract holes from quantum dots for exciton separation and decrease the physical and electrical barriers for charge transfer.

Details

Title
Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution with ligand engineered all-inorganic InP and InP/ZnS colloidal quantum dots
Author
Yu, Shan 1 ; Xiang-Bing, Fan 2 ; Wang, Xian 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Li, Jingguo 4 ; Zhang, Qian 1 ; Xia, Andong 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wei, Shiqian 5 ; Li-Zhu, Wu 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zhou, Ying 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Patzke, Greta R 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China; Department of Chemistry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland 
 Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 
 Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 
 Department of Chemistry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland 
 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China 
Pages
1-10
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Oct 2018
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2115233719
Copyright
© 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.