Plasmonic coupling-boosted photothermal nanoreactor for efficient solar light-driven photocatalytic water splitting

Photothermal nanoreactor with rapid charge transfer and improved spectral utilization is a key point in photocatalysis research. Herein, silver sulfide quantum dots (Ag2S QDs) were coating on the surface of porous graphitic carbon nitride nano vesicles (PCNNVs) to form Ag2S/PCNNVs nanoreactors by a simple calcination method for obtaining efficient photothermal-assisted photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution under simulated/ real sunlight irradiation. In particularly, the as-prepared optimal 3% Ag2S/PCNNVs sample exhibited the H2 production rate of 34.8 mmol h-1 g-1, which was 3.5 times higher than that of bare PCNNVs. The enhancement of photothermal-assisted activity over the Ag2S/PCNNVs composite system is mainly attributed to the coupling of the photothermal conversion performance of Ag2S QDs and the thermal insulation performance of PCNNVs based on the plasmonic coupling-boosted photothermal nanoreactor. This study presents a promising strategy for the development of high-efficient photothermal-assisted photocatalysts.

Automated summary

In this study, Ag2S/PCNNVs nanoreactors were developed by coating silver sulfide quantum dots (Ag2S QDs) onto the surface of porous graphitic carbon nitride nano vesicles (PCNNVs) through a simple calcination method. These nanoreactors showed efficient photothermal-assisted photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution under simulated/real sunlight irradiation. The optimized 3% Ag2S/PCNNVs sample exhibited a hydrogen production rate of 34.8 mmol h-1 g-1, which was 3.5 times higher than that of bare PCNNVs. The enhanced activity of the Ag2S/PCNNVs composite system is attributed to the coupling of the photothermal conversion performance of Ag2S QDs and the thermal insulation performance of PCNNVs based on the plasmonic coupling-boosted photothermal nanoreactor. This study presents a promising strategy for the development of high-efficient photothermal-assisted photocatalysts.