Nanowerk February 27, 2024
Near infrared energy remains untapped toward the maneuvering of entire solar spectrum harvesting for fulfilling the nuts and bolts of solar hydrogen production. An international team of researchers (Taiwan, Japan)used Au@Cu7S4 yolk@shell nanocrystals as dual-plasmonic photocatalysts to achieve remarkable hydrogen production under visible and near infrared illumination. Data revealed the prevalence of long-lived charge separation states for Au@Cu7S4 under both visible and near infrared excitation. Combined with the advantageous features of yolk@shell nanostructures, Au@Cu7S4 achieved a peak quantum yield of 9.4%. The design of a sustainable visible- and near infrared-responsive photocatalytic system is expected to inspire further widespread applications in solar fuel generation. They highlighted the feasibility of exploiting the localized surface plasmon resonance property of self-doped, nonstoichiometric semiconductor nanocrystals for the realization of wide-spectrum-driven photocatalysis… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Activity for solar hydrogen production. Credit: Nature Communications volume 15, Article number: 413 (2024)