Issue 25, 2020

Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution on single-crystalline metal selenide particles with suitable cocatalysts

Abstract

It is important to improve the apparent quantum yields (AQYs) of narrow bandgap photocatalysts to achieve efficient H2 production. The present work demonstrates a particulate solid solution of zinc selenide and copper gallium selenide (denoted as ZnSe:CGSe) that evolves H2 efficiently and is responsive to visible light up to 725 nm. This material was synthesized using a flux-assisted method and was found to comprise single-crystalline tetrahedral particles. The coloading of Ni and Rh, Pt, Pd or Ru as cocatalysts further improved the photocatalytic H2 evolution rate over this photocatalyst. With the optimal coloading of a Ni–Ru composite cocatalyst, an AQY of 13.7% was obtained at 420 nm during a sacrificial H2 evolution reaction, representing the highest value yet reported for a photocatalyst with an absorption edge longer than 700 nm. The present study demonstrates that the preparation of single-crystalline particles and the rational assembly of composite cocatalysts are effective strategies that allow the efficient utilization of long wavelengths by metal selenide photocatalysts for solar fuel production.

Graphical abstract: Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution on single-crystalline metal selenide particles with suitable cocatalysts

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
27 Feb 2020
Accepted
01 Apr 2020
First published
01 Apr 2020
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 6436-6441

Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution on single-crystalline metal selenide particles with suitable cocatalysts

S. Chen, J. J. M. Vequizo, T. Hisatomi, M. Nakabayashi, L. Lin, Z. Wang, A. Yamakata, N. Shibata, T. Takata, T. Yamada and K. Domen, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 6436 DOI: 10.1039/D0SC01167C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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