2 research outputs found
Modulation of Hot Electrons via Interface Engineering of Au@ZnInS/Mxene for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Seawater Splitting under Visible Light
No full textAbstractHighly effective hot electron transfer is critical in plasmonic metal-semiconductor system to harness its plasmonic functions to enhance solar energy conversion. The efficient injection and utilization of hot electrons are achieved by fabrication of Au@ZnInS/TiC (Au@ZIS/TiC) system, in which a high-quality interface is constructed between plasmonic Au and ZIS ternary sulfide by cation exchange reaction (CER) to obtain core-shell Au@ZIS, which are further anchored on TiC surface to produce Au@ZIS/TiC. Different from the conventional core-shell nanostructure by epitaxial growth, the superior interface formed by the direct connect of Au core and ZIS shell without any defects is achieved, which optimizes the electron transfer pathway and greatly promotes the extraction of hot electrons from Au to ZIS. Moreover, the electrons concentrated on ZIS can be further transferred to TiC due to its outstanding conductivity and electron mobility, leading to highly efficient separation and transfer of electrons through a two-step transfer process. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) H evolution from seawater is used to evaluate the activities of prepared samples. Comparisons of the PEC results indicate that the integration of Au and ZIS into an optimized core-shell structure and its further modification by TiC result in a drastic improvement in PEC activity
