Enriching Hot Electrons via NIR-Photon-Excited Plasmon in WS2@Cu Hybrids for Full-Spectrum Solar Hydrogen Evolution

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 WS2 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 WS2@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 WS2 and Cu, respectively. The SPR on Cu NPs enables hot electron excitation and transfer to WS2 NSs, with fast charge separation across Schottky interface, rendering enhanced photocatalytic activity with response extending to NIR region beyond lambda > 750 nm. This work describes an avenue of plasmon-mediated NIR utilization for artificial photosynthesis and solar energy conversion.