Significantly Enhanced Photoelectrocatalytic Alcohol Oxidation Performance of CdS Nanowire-Supported Pt via the “Bridge” Role of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Quantum Dots

Abstract

Environmentally friendly, high energy conversion efficiency, and low pollution emission direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) represent an ideal future clean renewable energy source. Herein, N-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) are introduced into cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanowires to form a "dot-on-nanowire" structure and support Pt nanoparticles to fabricate the electrode material, which is the core component of fuel cells. With the assistance of visible light irradiation, the asprepared Pt-CdS/N-GQD electrode displays 2.7, 3.9, and 8.1 times improved electrocatalytic performance on methanol, ethanol, and ethylene glycol oxidation compared to the Pt-CdS one, respectively. Meanwhile, another essential parameter to evaluate the catalytic properties, the long-term stability of the corresponding electrode, is also significantly promoted under visible light illumination. The N-GQDs served as the "bridge" to link the photo-and electrocatalytic processes for facilitating efficacious interfacial charge transfer and the separation of photogenerated electron−hole pairs in the Pt-CdS/N-GQD electrode, which contributes to the synergistic effect of photoelectrocatalysis for the promotion of catalytic efficiency and stability. The present studies provide a promising avenue to design the high photoelectrocatalytic activity and superior poison resistance electrode materials for application in DAFCs.

Hit Multiple Targets with One Arrow: Pb2+ and ClO– Detection by Edge Functionalized Graphene Quantum Dots and Their Applications in Living Cells

“…The high-resolution spectrum of N 1s can also be resolved into three componentspyridinic-N (398.7 eV), C–N bond (399.8 eV), and amino-N (401.5 eV) (Figure e) . Additionally, the high-resolution O 1s spectrum reveals that F-GQDs consist of O–H (530.9 eV), C–OH (532.1 eV), and CO (533.4 eV) functional groups (Figure f). , Overall, the characterizations signify that the DAP molecule successfully functionalizes the GQD-surface via amide linkage formation.…”

“…The XPS survey of F-GQD depicts three prominent peaks at ∼284, ∼400, and ∼532 eV for C 1s, N 1s, and O 1s, respectively (Figure S1f). The deconvoluted C 1s spectrum of F-GQD exhibits four characteristic peaks at 284.2 eV (CC/C–C), 285.8 eV (C–N), 287.2 eV (C–O), and 288.4 eV (CN) (Figure d). The high-resolution spectrum of N 1s can also be resolved into three componentspyridinic-N (398.7 eV), C–N bond (399.8 eV), and amino-N (401.5 eV) (Figure e) .…”

Research Progress in Organic Synthesis by Means of Photoelectrocatalysis

“…Recently, Zhang and coworkers prepared Pt‐CdS/N‐GQDs and used it for the visible light assisted electrocatalytic conversion of aliphatic alcohols. The yields of methanol and ethanol were 2.7 and 3.9 times higher than that of Pt‐CdS, respectively [2] . N‐doped graphene quantum dots can promote the interfacial charge transfer and the separation of photogenerated charge carriers in the Pt‐CdS/N‐GQDs, which might produce synergistic effect to improve the catalytic efficiency and stability.…”

“…It refers to converting raw materials (such as petroleum and biomass) into valuable multifunctional molecules with specific structures and properties. In recent years, researchers have developed strategies (thermal catalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis) to obtain highly reactive intermediates (including radicals, radical ions and complexes) efficiently [1,2] . Each method has its particular characteristics and collectively provides technical and theoretical supports for the innovation of organic synthesis (Figure 1).…”

General In Situ Photoactivation Route with IPCE over 80% toward CdS Photoanodes for Photoelectrochemical Applications

“…[ 20–22 ] Nowadays, CdS‐based heterostructures such as CdS/NiOOH, [ 23 ] TiO 2 /SrTiO 3 /CdS, [ 24 ] CdS@SnO 2 , [ 25 ] CdS/TiO 2 /Bi 2 WO 6 , [ 26 ] and CdS‐carbon nanotube‐CoPi [ 27 ] have been fabricated to enhance the PEC water splitting performance. Moreover, other alternative PEC approaches such as using desired selective organic oxidation reactions [ 28 ] rather than water oxidation were proposed as well, which can fully excavate the potential of CdS photoanodes in other suitable operation conditions with improved efficiency and stability.…”