Nano-hybrid plasmonic photocatalyst for hydrogen production at 20% efficiency

Abstract

The efficient conversion of light energy into chemical energy is key for sustainable human development. Several photocatalytic systems based on photovoltaic electrolysis have been used to produce hydrogen via water reduction. However, in such devices, light harvesting and proton reduction are carried separately, showing quantum efficiency of about 10–12%. Here, we report a nano-hybrid photocatalytic assembly that enables concomitant reductive hydrogen production and pollutant oxidation with solar-to-fuel efficiencies up to 20%. The modular architecture of this plasmonic material allows the fine-tuning of its photocatalytic properties by simple manipulation of a reduced number of basic components.

Development of a photoinduced fragmentation ion trap for infrared multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy

“…Betalamic acid is the biosynthetic precursor of betalains, which are plant and fungi pigments of practical importance as antioxidants, redox mediators and food additives. [85][86][87][88][89] Plants produce betalamic acid from the enzymatic oxidation of L-DOPA. However, in some basidiomycete fungi, such as fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), L-DOPA oxidation leads to both betalamic acid and its isomer muscaflavin, which can be distinguished with difficulty using MS. 90 We extracted betalamic acid from base-hydrolyzed beetroot juice and submitted its aqueous solution to standard MS and MS n analysis.…”

A generalized approach for selecting solar energy system configurations for a wide range of applications

“…There are also studies of fuel production, via photocatalysis, electrolysis and other photoelectrochemical processes, which could be integrated with PV, and might be able to solve (ii). [119][120][121][122][123] While all of these studies should be encouraged, it is very important that the ability of each one of them to provide solutions to the above obstacles and its potential influence on the system LEC are evaluated as the study progresses. Table 4 and Figure 6, leads to the conclusion that a small SCR with design input of no more than about Figure 9.…”

Molecular Linking Selectivity on Self-Assembled Metal-Semiconductor Nano-Hybrid Systems

“…Plasmonic metals have optical absorptions that exceed by tenfold their geometric sizes, making their ability to convert light into charge carriers unmatchable. Excitation of their localized surface plasmon (LSP) creates hot carriers [1,2] that can be used in photocatalysis [3][4][5][6][7][8] and photovoltaics [9][10][11]. The direct utilization of hot carriers is difficult due to their ultrafast relaxation and recombination [1].…”

“…Nano-hybrid systems composed of plasmonic metallic particles and semiconductor oxides connected via a molecular linker demonstrate superior performance in photovoltaic devices [14] and photocatalytic systems [5,6,15]. The linker works primarily as a physical separator preventing the equilibration of the Fermi levels, essential to preserve open-circuit voltage in photovoltaic and redox potential driving force in photocatalytic systems.…”