Issue 31, 2020

Visible-light driven photocatalytic hydrogen generation by water-soluble all-inorganic core–shell silicon quantum dots

Abstract

The photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) generation by boron (B) and phosphorus (P) codoped silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) with diameters in the quantum confinement regime is investigated. The codoped Si QDs have an amorphous shell made from B, Si and P. The shell induces negative potential on the surface and makes codoped Si QDs dispersible in water. The hydrophilic shell offers enhanced stability and efficiency in photocatalytic H2 generation and provides the opportunity to study the size dependence of the H2 generation rate. A drastic increase of H2 generation rate with decreasing QD size is observed. Analyses based on the Marcus theory reveal that the upper shift of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level of Si QDs by the quantum confinement effect is responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic activity.

Graphical abstract: Visible-light driven photocatalytic hydrogen generation by water-soluble all-inorganic core–shell silicon quantum dots

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 ม.ค. 2563
Accepted
25 ก.พ. 2563
First published
25 ก.พ. 2563

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 15789-15794

Visible-light driven photocatalytic hydrogen generation by water-soluble all-inorganic core–shell silicon quantum dots

H. Sugimoto, H. Zhou, M. Takada, J. Fushimi and M. Fujii, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 15789 DOI: 10.1039/D0TA01071E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements