Abstract:Promoting the activities of photocatalysts is still the critical challenge in H 2 generation area. Here, a Au plasmon enhanced photocatalyst of WS 2 -Au-CuInS 2 is developed by inserting Au nanoparticles between WS 2 nanotubes and CuInS 2 (CIS) nanoparticles. Due to the localized surface plasmonic resonance properties from Au nanoparticles, WS 2 -Au-CIS shows the best performance as compared to Au-CIS, CIS, WS 2 -CIS, CIS-Au, WS 2 -Au, and WS 2 -CIS-Au. The surface plasmonic resonance effects dramatically inte… Show more
“…As the visible-light irradiation process continues, the peak located at 537 nm is continued to shift and decrease, which indicates that the RhB molecules were further decomposed into smaller molecular fragments and the structure of RhB was also destroyed in the end. The two-step transition processes for photodegradation of RhB were also reported in several previous studies [29, 30]. Meanwhile, the suspension loses color gradually in the experiment, which further indicates that the structure of RhB has been destroyed in the end.Fig.…”
In this paper, novel WS2/Bi2MoO6 heterostructured photocatalysts were successfully fabricated via a facile solvothermal growth method using pre-exfoliated layered WS2 nanoslices as a substrate. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of the as-prepared WS2/Bi2MoO6 samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM (HRTEM), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). Results confirmed the existence of an excellent nanojunction interface between layered WS2 nanoslices and Bi2MoO6 nanoflakes. Under visible light (>420 nm), the WS2/Bi2MoO6 composites exhibit significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with pure Bi2MoO6 toward the decomposition of rhodamine B (RhB). Meanwhile, the active species trapping experiments indicated that holes (h+) were the main active species during the photocatalytic reaction. The enhanced photocatalytic performance can be ascribed to the effective light harvesting, fast photogenerated electron–hole pairs separation, and excellent charge carrier transport of the WS2/Bi2MoO6 heterostructures. Moreover, the prepared WS2/Bi2MoO6 composites also show good structural and activity stability in repeatability experiments.
“…As the visible-light irradiation process continues, the peak located at 537 nm is continued to shift and decrease, which indicates that the RhB molecules were further decomposed into smaller molecular fragments and the structure of RhB was also destroyed in the end. The two-step transition processes for photodegradation of RhB were also reported in several previous studies [29, 30]. Meanwhile, the suspension loses color gradually in the experiment, which further indicates that the structure of RhB has been destroyed in the end.Fig.…”
In this paper, novel WS2/Bi2MoO6 heterostructured photocatalysts were successfully fabricated via a facile solvothermal growth method using pre-exfoliated layered WS2 nanoslices as a substrate. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of the as-prepared WS2/Bi2MoO6 samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM (HRTEM), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). Results confirmed the existence of an excellent nanojunction interface between layered WS2 nanoslices and Bi2MoO6 nanoflakes. Under visible light (>420 nm), the WS2/Bi2MoO6 composites exhibit significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with pure Bi2MoO6 toward the decomposition of rhodamine B (RhB). Meanwhile, the active species trapping experiments indicated that holes (h+) were the main active species during the photocatalytic reaction. The enhanced photocatalytic performance can be ascribed to the effective light harvesting, fast photogenerated electron–hole pairs separation, and excellent charge carrier transport of the WS2/Bi2MoO6 heterostructures. Moreover, the prepared WS2/Bi2MoO6 composites also show good structural and activity stability in repeatability experiments.
“…Different strategies have been taken to synthesize the carbon-based CdS from simple mixing of carbon and CdS to in-situ growing of the CdS at the surface of graphene oxide using oxygen moieties as the template [228]. WS 2 -Au-CuInS 2 has also been developed for photocatalytically H 2 production by insertion of gold nanoparticles between of WS 2 nanotubes and CuInS 2 (CIS) nanoparticles [229]. Introducing Au nanoparticles led to significant enhancement of light absorption.…”
Photocatalytic water splitting using sunlight is a promising technology capable of providing high energy yield without pollutant byproducts. Herein, we review various aspects of this technology including chemical reactions, physiochemical conditions and photocatalyst types such as metal oxides, sulfides, nitrides, nanocomposites, and doped materials followed by recent advances in computational modeling of photoactive materials. As the best-known catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen and oxygen evolution, TiO 2 is discussed in a separate section, along with its challenges such as the wide band gap, large overpotential for hydrogen evolution, and rapid recombination of produced electron-hole pairs. Various approaches are addressed to overcome these shortcomings, such as doping with different elements, heterojunction catalysts, noble metal deposition, and surface modification. Development of a photocatalytic corrosion resistant, visible light absorbing, defect-tuned material with small particle size is the key to complete the sunlight to hydrogen cycle efficiently. Computational studies have opened new avenues to understand and predict the electronic density of states and band structure of advanced materials and could pave the way for the rational design of efficient photocatalysts for water splitting. Future directions are focused on developing innovative junction architectures, novel synthesis methods and optimizing the existing active materials to enhance charge transfer, visible light absorption, reducing the gas evolution overpotential and maintaining chemical and physical stability.
“…The ultrathin 2D transition‐metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets (NSs), such as MS 2 (M = W or Mo), may be an ideal platform for integrating with the SPR of Cu NPs toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), benefiting from the following several unique features: i) large specific surface area is accessible to the loading and binding of NPs; ii) more exposed surface atoms shorten the distance of charge transfer to surface toward HER; iii) active edge sites with desired free energy of hydrogen adsorption (Δ G H* ) furnish intrinsic HER activity; iv) flexible band structure helps to be engineered to improve solar harvesting and charge separation. So far, TMD‐based photocatalysts coupled with plasmonic precious metals were widely reported; WS 2 with a lower work function can form the Schottky contact with metallic Cu for plasmonic hot electron transfer, however the WS 2 @Cu composite has been underexplored as a low‐cost photocatalyst for solar H 2 production.…”
Full-spectrum solar-light-activated photocatalysis remains a challenging pursuit for light-chemical energy conversion, especially the involvement of near-infrared (NIR) light. To this end, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) anchored on WS 2 nanosheets (NSs) is designed to expand light response over NIR region for broadband-solar-activated photoreduction of water to hydrogen (H 2 ). Under the simulated 1 sun irradiation (100 mW cm −2 ), the optimized WS 2 @Cu nanohybrid exhibits a stable and remarkable H 2 -evolution rate of 64 mmol g −1 h −1 , which is about 40 and 2.2 times higher than that of bare WS 2 and Cu, respectively. The SPR on Cu NPs enables hot electron excitation and transfer to WS 2 NSs, with fast charge separation across Schottky interface, rendering enhanced photocatalytic activity with response extending to NIR region beyond λ > 750 nm. This work describes an avenue of plasmon-mediated NIR utilization for artificial photosynthesis and solar energy conversion.
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