Facilitated electron transfer by Mn dopants in 1-dimensional CdS nanorods for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen generation. Issue 13 (14th March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: MacSwain, Walker; Lin, Hanjie; Li, Zhi-Jun; Li, Shuya; Chu, Chun; Dube, Lacie; Chen, Ou; Leem, Gyu; Zheng, Weiwei
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 11:Issue 13(2023)
• Page Start: 7066
• Page End: 7076
• Publication Date: 2023-03-14
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d2ta08409k
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : The long lifetime of Mn 2+ dopants (∼ms) facilitates charge separation and electron transfer in Mn 2+ doped 1D CdS nanorods (NRs) with Pt tips ( i.e., Mn:CdS-Pt NRs), which significantly enhances photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen generation. Abstract : Using sunlight to produce hydrogen gas via photocatalytic water splitting is highly desirable for green energy harvesting and sustainability. In this work, Mn 2+ doped 1-dimensional (1D) CdS nanorods (NRs) with Pt tips ( i.e., 1D Mn:CdS-Pt NRs) were synthesized for photocatalytic water splitting to generate hydrogen gas. The incorporation of Mn 2+ dopants inside the 1D CdS NRs with a significantly longer lifetime (∼ms) than that of host excitons (∼ns) facilitates charge separation; the electron transfer to metal Pt tips leads to enhanced photocatalytic activity in water splitting redox reactions. The as-synthesized Mn 2+ doped CdS NR-based photocatalyst generated an order of magnitude greater yield of hydrogen gas compared to the undoped CdS NR-based photocatalyst. The enhanced charge transport from the long lifetime excited state of Mn 2+ dopants in light harvesting semiconductor nanomaterials presents a new opportunity to increase the overall photocatalytic performance.