Utilizing sunlight to convert CO 2 into chemical fuels could simultaneously address the greenhouse effect and fossil fuel crisis. ZnSe nanocrystals are promising candidates for photocatalysis because of their low toxicity and excellent photoelectric properties. However, pristine ZnSe generally has low catalytic activities due to serious charge recombination and the lack of efficient catalytic sites for CO 2 reduction. Herein, a ZnSe nanorods−CsSnCl 3 perovskite (ZnSe−CsSnCl 3 ) type II heterojunction composite is designed and prepared for photocatalytic CO 2 reduction. The ZnSe−CsSnCl 3 type II heterojunction composite exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity for CO 2 reduction with respect to pristine ZnSe nanorods. The experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal that the efficient charge separation and lowered free energy of CO 2 reduction facilitate the CO 2 conversion on the ZnSe−CsSnCl 3 heterojunction composite. This work presents a type II heterojunction composite photocatalyst based on ecofriendly metal chalcogenides and metal halide perovskites. Our study has also promoted the understanding of the CO 2 reduction mechanisms on perovskite nanocrystals, which could be valuable for the development of metal halide perovskite photocatalysts.

The formation of photodimers of nitrogen heterocyclic compounds (NHCs) could partially explain DNA damage due to radiation. Pyrrole and its derivatives, as major components of DNA, are used to understand...

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Developing suitable catalysts capable of receiving injected electrons and possessing active sites for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is the key to building an efficient dyesensitized system for hydrogen production. Fe 3 S 4 is generally regarded as an inferior HER catalyst among the metal sulfide family, mainly due to its weak surface adsorption toward H atoms. In this work, we demonstrate a facile metal−organic frameworkderived method to synthesize uniform Fe 3 S 4 nanorods and active them for HER by Ni doping. Our experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that Ni doping can greatly modify the electronic structure of Fe 3 S 4 nanorods, improving their electron conductivity and optimizing their surface adsorption energy toward H atoms. Sensitized by a commercial organic dye (eosin-Y), 1%Ni-doped Fe 3 S 4 nanorods display a high H 2 production rate of 3240 μmol g cat −1 h −1 with an apparent quantum yield of 12% under 500 nm wavelength, which is significantly higher than that of pristine Fe 3 S 4 and even higher than that of 1% Pt-deposited Fe 3 S 4 . The working mechanism of this dye-sensitized system is explored, and the effect of Ni-doping concentration has been studied. This work presents a facile strategy to synthesize metal-doped sulfide nanocatalysts with greatly enhanced activity toward photocatalytic H 2 production.