Protruding Pt single-sites on hexagonal ZnIn<sub>2</sub>S<sub>4</sub> to accelerate photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35277495.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-28995-1 and PMC identifier 8917206.
- 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
Single-site cocatalysts engineered on supports offer a cost-efficient pathway to utilize precious metals, yet improving the performance further with minimal catalyst loading is still highly desirable. Here we have conducted a photochemical reaction to stabilize ultralow Pt co-catalysts (0.26 wt%) onto the basal plane of hexagonal ZnIn<sub>2</sub>S<sub>4</sub> nanosheets (Pt<sub>SS</sub>-ZIS) to form a Pt-S<sub>3</sub> protrusion tetrahedron coordination structure. Compared with the traditional defect-trapped Pt single-site counterparts, the protruding Pt single-sites on h-ZIS photocatalyst enhance the H<sub>2</sub> evolution yield rate by a factor of 2.2, which could reach 17.5 mmol g<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> under visible light irradiation. Importantly, through simple drop-casting, a thin Pt<sub>SS</sub>-ZIS film is prepared, and large amount of observable H<sub>2</sub> bubbles are generated, providing great potential for practical solar-light-driven H<sub>2</sub> production. The protruding single Pt atoms in Pt<sub>SS</sub>-ZIS could inhibit the recombination of electron-hole pairs and cause a tip effect to optimize the adsorption/desorption behavior of H through effective proton mass transfer, which synergistically promote reaction thermodynamics and kinetics.