Quantum Dots Based Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract

Photocatalytic production of hydrogen from water can directly convert solar energy into chemical energy storage, which has significant advantages and great promise. As an emerging photosensitizer, the efficiency of quantum dots (QDs) based artificial photosynthetic system have made breakthroughs. In this review, we will give a summary of the development of QDs based photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in these years. First, we highlight different types of hydrogen evolution catalyst combined with QDs; then we focus on the surface modification and heterostructure formation of QDs to improve the photocatalytic efficiency, respectively. In the end, we will propose some Cd‐free QDs and future development of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Tailored Photoluminescence Properties of Ag(In,Ga)Se2 Quantum Dots for Near-Infrared In Vivo Imaging

“…The unique optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have attracted increasing attention for the development of novel photofunctional devices including photovoltaics, photocatalysts, LEDs, and bioimaging systems. − The photoresponsivity of the devices could be widely controlled from visible to near-infrared (NIR) wavelength regions by changing the size and shape of the QDs due to the quantum size effect. Among the various kinds of QDs, there has been much interest in colloidal QDs showing a NIR photoresponse for the construction of highly efficient bioimaging systems in which QDs are used as photoluminescence (PL) probes. , The lights used for excitation and detection in biological applications are preferably in the wavelength regions of the first biological NIR window (700–900 nm) and/or of the second window (1000–1400 nm) because they can penetrate much deeper than visible light in biological tissues and because autogenic fluorescence originating from tissues is negligibly weak in such biological windows. − Binary QDs composed of group II–VI or group IV–VI semiconductors that have relatively narrow energy gaps (E g s), such as CdSe, CdTe, and PbS, have been intensively investigated over the past two decades because of their well-established solution-phase preparation methods, tunable NIR band-edge PL peaks with narrow peak widths and better photoresistivity than that of conventional organic dyes. − However, the involvement of heavier elements, such as Cd and Pb, strictly limits the use of these binary QDs in wide practical applications.…”

Water-Soluble Ag–Sn–S Nanocrystals Partially Coated with ZnS Shells for Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes

“…Moreover, the unsaturated bonds and dangling bonds caused by insufficient coordination make the exposed atoms on the surface of the nanocrystals show higher reactivity than the internal atoms, which can serve as potential photocatalytic active sites to improve the separation efficiency of electron–hole pairs . The above characteristics make them show their unique advantages in the fields of photocatalytic hydrogen production, photocatalytic degradation, and photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 . − …”

Density functional theory study of the hydrogen evolution reaction in haeckelite boron nitride quantum dots

“…While reducing the dimensionality of nanostructures to the zero-dimensional quantum dots, it is seen that besides developing useful physical, electronic and optical properties, quantum dots are also emerging as promising candidate in energy storage and conversion sector as electrocatalysts [32][33][34]. Significant attempts have been made to analyse the catalytic properties of quantum dots (QDs) in the context of HER [35][36][37][38]. The recent works on the graphene quantum dots (GQDs) in hydrogen production have generated considerable interest in the field after successful predictions for HER.…”