Revealing the Role of Electronic Doping for Developing Cocatalyst-Free Semiconducting Photocatalysts

Developing cocatalyst-free photocatalysts is highly desired because it could avoid the very slow interfacial electron transfer that makes photocatalytic photon utilization a dilemma. However, even in the optimal case, photocatalysts without the use of cocatalysts deliver comparable performance only for conventional construction. We demonstrate here that electronic doping not only provides catalytically active sites in cocatalyst-free photocatalysts but also plays certain additional roles. These electronic states can efficiently channel the trapped electrons to the semiconductor surface without suffering from time-consuming detrapping and can facilitate the extraction of photogenerated holes. These features endow our demonstrated tungsten-doped CdS with evident superiority in photocatalytic performance over conventional counterparts loaded with platinum cocatalysts.

Automated summary

Developing cocatalyst-free photocatalysts is important for overcoming the slow interfacial electron transfer in photocatalytic photon utilization. We demonstrate that electronic doping can provide catalytically active sites and additional roles in cocatalyst-free photocatalysts. Tungsten-doped CdS shows superior photocatalytic performance compared to conventional counterparts loaded with platinum cocatalysts.