Selective Placement of Faceted Metal Tips on Semiconductor Nanorods

et al. 2019

Small

For the first time, colloidal gold (Au)–ZnSe hybrid nanorods (NRs) with controlled size and location of Au domains are synthesized and used for hydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting. Au tips are found to grow on the apices of ZnSe NRs nonepitaxially to form an interface with no preference of orientation between Au(111) and ZnSe(001). Density functional theory calculations reveal that the Au tips on ZnSe hybrid NRs gain enhanced adsorption of H compared to pristine Au, which favors the hydrogen evolution reaction. Photocatalytic tests reveal that the Au tips on ZnSe NRs effectively enhance the photocatalytic performance in hydrogen generation, in which the single Au‐tipped ZnSe hybrid NRs show the highest photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of 437.8 µmol h−1 g−1 in comparison with a rate of 51.5 µmol h−1 g−1 for pristine ZnSe NRs. An apparent quantum efficiency of 1.3% for hydrogen evolution reaction for single Au‐tipped ZnSe hybrid NRs is obtained, showing the potential application of this type of cadmium (Cd)‐free metal–semiconductor hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) in solar hydrogen production. This work opens an avenue toward Cd‐free hybrid NP‐based photocatalysis for clean fuel production.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…Meanwhile, the color of the product solutions gradually changes from light yellow to dark brown. These observations indicate the modified electronic structure of Au–ZnSe hybrid NRs rather than the simple mixture of ZnSe semiconductor and metal tips …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Nonepitaxial Gold‐Tipped ZnSe Hybrid Nanorods for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Chen

et al. 2019

Small

“…The growth process of CdSe quantum rods mainly involves two stages: nucleation and anisotropic growth. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] 3.2 Thermodynamic controlled growth by a ripening process Present investigations of colloidal semiconductor quantum rods are mainly limited to cadmium chalcogenides primarily due to their facile synthetic accessibility as was demonstrated by the seeded growth approach. The invention of the seeded growth approach is inspired by the different growth stages of the above-mentioned anisotropic growth of CdSe quantum rods.…”

Section: Kinetically Controlled Dot/rod In Rod Seeded Growth Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging strategies for the synthesis of monodisperse colloidal semiconductor quantum rods

Jia

2015

J. Mater. Chem. C

Colloidal semiconductor quantum rods are exciting materials from both fundamental and technological points of view. The electronic and optical properties of these materials are governed by the decrease in the confinement of charge carriers along the long axis and by the cylindrical symmetry of the particles. Their intrinsic properties, such as highly controlled optical characteristics, are advantageous in biological labeling, photovoltaic devices and light emitting diodes. Thanks to the advances in the development of strategies for synthesizing colloidal semiconductor quantum rods that made these materials available. The availability of colloidal semiconductor quantum rods provides a platform for both the investigation of their stimulating properties and the exploration of their promising applications. This review article focused on the recent advances in the strategies for the synthesis of monodisperse colloidal semiconductor quantum rods. The fundamental issues associated with the anisotropic growth of colloidal nanocrystals such as facet, surface energy, selective binding of surfactant, growth kinetics and thermodynamics were addressed, interpreted and discussed. Synthetic strategies for colloidal semiconductor quantum rods, being different from one another, were introduced and the growth mechanisms were revealed. The progress on the synthetic strategies of colloidal semiconductor quantum rods provided the basis for many inspiring applications in the fields of photocatalysis, opto-electronic devices, bio-labeling and other advanced applications.

“…14 According to the electronic structure of each unit, these NHSs were categorized as metal-metal, 15 metalsemiconductor 10,11 and semiconductor-semiconductor. 16,17 Until recently, a series of complex NHSs, such as multi-component, 18 shape-controlled 19 or site-selective, 20 appeared with judicious synthetic manipulations such as wet-chemical (hot-injection, solvothermal) and gas-phase techniques(atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition). 4 These advanced architectures served as attractive candidates in a wide range of applications, integrating the functionality of each unit and even evolving novel properties due to the charge carrier reallocation through the nano-interface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rational synthesis and the structure-property relationships of nanoheterostructures: a combinative study of experiments and theory

Zhou

2015

NPG Asia Mater

Nanoheterostructures (NHSs) that combine various nanomaterials into one entity have received an extensive amount of attention in current research. The enhanced performance of the NHSs over their individual constituents have arisen from their unique electronic structure. To rationally synthesize NHSs, two issues need to be addressed. The first issue that should be explored is the mechanism by which the disparate components are integrated into the main structure. The second issue is the relationship between the NHS and its corresponding properties. In this review article, we will focus on these two issues from the perspectives of both experimental and theoretical methodologies.