Synthesis of Magnetite–Semiconductor–Metal Trimer Nanoparticles through Functional Modular Assembly: A Magnetically Separable Photocatalyst with Photothermic Enhancement for Water Reduction

Abstract

Hybrid nanoparticles have intrinsic advantages to achieve better activity in photocatalysis compared to single-component materials, as it can synergistically combine functional components, which promote light absorption, charge transportation, surface reaction, and catalyst regeneration. Through functional modular assembly, a rational and stepwise approach has been developed to construct FeO-CdS-Au trimer nanoparticles and its derivatives as magnetically separable catalysts for photothermo-catalytic hydrogen evolution from water. In a typical step-by-step synthetic process, FeO-Ag dimers, FeO-AgS dimers, FeO-CdS dimers, and FeO-CdS-Au trimers were synthesized by seeding growth, sulfuration, ion exchange, and in situ reduction consequently. Following the same reaction route, a series of derivative trimer nanoparticles with alternative semiconductor and metal were obtained for water-reduction reaction. The experimental results show that the semiconductor acts as an active component for photocatalysis, the metal nanoparticle acts as a cocatalyst for enhancement of charge separation, and the FeO component helps in the convenient separation of catalysts in magnetic field and improves photocatalytic activity under near-infrared illumination due to photothermic effect.

Multifunctional Heterogeneous Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites Assembled by DNA‐Binding Peptide Anchors

“…Finally, the AuNPs present close to the QD‐bound CNTs can induce a localized surface plasmon resonance in the visible spectrum for light harvesting. The plasmonic energy released from the AuNPs can be transferred to the QDs, which enhances the electron–hole pair generation …”

Spontaneous Formation of a Hybrid Heterotrimer of Fe3O4-Ag2S-ZnS by Seeded-Growth Method

“…The heterodimer of Ag-Fe 3 O 4 was synthesized according to the literature method. [21,22] At first, Fe(acac) 3 was used to generate iron oleate in-situ in the presence of oleic acid and OL-Am. In a typical reaction, 50 mg of Fe(acac) 3 was mixed with 4ml OA, 6ml of OL-Am and 2 ml of pre-made oleylamine capped Ag NPs [16] (Figure S1) in a three-necked round bottom flask under vigorous stirring.…”

A magnetic molecularly imprinted optical chemical sensor for specific recognition of trace quantities of virus

“…They are already widely used in medicine in the treatment of tumors and in molecular biology for cell separation; they are also used in other elds as catalyst carriers, microwaveabsorbing materials, magnetic liquids, and magnetic recording materials. [1][2][3] Magnetic nanoparticles modied by natural receptors are oen used to identify proteins, viruses, and nucleic acids. 4,5 However, the instability of these natural receptors and their high cost limits their wide application.…”