Confinement effect of monolayer MoS2 quantum dots on conjugated polyimide and promotion of solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen generation

A monolayer MoS2 quantum dot confined polyimide (MQDs/PI) photocatalyst was synthesized by using a facile immersion-hydrothermal method. The investigations on the optical and electronic properties of MQDs/PI composites reveal that the strong quantum confinement effect of MQDs results in a blue-shift of the absorption band edge of PI, and the interfacial electronic interaction between MQDs and PI improves the charge transfer rate of MQDs/PI. The ultra-small size of 3.0 nm and perfect crystals of MQDs endow MQDs/PI composites with plenty of active sites and fast charge transfer, thus resulting in a 360% enhancement in photocatalytic hydrogen production compared with that of Pt/PI at the same loading amount of Pt. This discovery provides a new clue for the development of an efficient and sustainable non-noble metal photocatalyst.