Carbon-doped SnS<sub>2</sub> nanostructure as a high-efficiency solar fuel catalyst under visible light.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29330430.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-02547-4 and PMC identifier 5766557.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Photocatalytic formation of hydrocarbons using solar energy via artificial photosynthesis is a highly desirable renewable-energy source for replacing conventional fossil fuels. Using an L-cysteine-based hydrothermal process, here we synthesize a carbon-doped SnS<sub>2</sub> (SnS<sub>2</sub>-C) metal dichalcogenide nanostructure, which exhibits a highly active and selective photocatalytic conversion of CO<sub>2</sub> to hydrocarbons under visible-light. The interstitial carbon doping induced microstrain in the SnS<sub>2</sub> lattice, resulting in different photophysical properties as compared with undoped SnS<sub>2</sub>. This SnS<sub>2</sub>-C photocatalyst significantly enhances the CO<sub>2</sub> reduction activity under visible light, attaining a photochemical quantum efficiency of above 0.7%. The SnS<sub>2</sub>-C photocatalyst represents an important contribution towards high quantum efficiency artificial photosynthesis based on gas phase photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction under visible light, where the in situ carbon-doped SnS<sub>2</sub> nanostructure improves the stability and the light harvesting and charge separation efficiency, and significantly enhances the photocatalytic activity.