TY - JOUR

T1 - Semiconductor-Metal Hybrid Nanoparticle-Based Hydrogels

T2 - Efficient Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

AU - Schlenkrich, Jakob

AU - Pluta, Denis

AU - Graf, Rebecca T.

AU - Wesemann, Christoph

AU - Lübkemann-Warwas, Franziska

AU - Bigall, Nadja C.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) with the grant agreement BI 1708/4‐3 and under Germany's excellence strategy within the cluster of excellence PhoenixD (EXC 2122, project ID 390833453). R.T.G. is thankful for financial support from the Hannover School for Nanotechnology (hsn). The research was supported by the Cluster of Excellence CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter (EXC 2056) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) with the project ID 390715994 Furthermore, the used TEM for the shown images was provided by the Laboratory of Nano and Quantum Engineering. Moreover, the authors thank Armin Feldhoff and Jürgen Caro for providing the SEM facility. The authors acknowledge financial support from the Open Access Publication Fund of Universität Hamburg. Grammarly was used to improve grammar and typesetting.

PY - 2024/3/27

Y1 - 2024/3/27

N2 - In semiconductor-metal hybrid nanoparticles, excited charge carriers can be separated efficiently by transferring the electron to the metal, because the Fermi level is located within the bandgap of the semiconductor. Besides charge carrier separation, the catalytically active surface of the metal enables the use of these charge carriers for further reactions. Due to limited colloidal stability, the application of nanoparticles in solution is challenging. To circumvent these difficulties, the destabilization can be used to build monolithic 3D (non-ordered) gel-like structures with retained high surface area and an ensured diffusion within the network. Here, the resulting nanoparticle-based hydrogels of CdSe/CdS/Pt nanoparticles show photocatalytic hydrogen production rates up to 58 (mmol(H2))/(g∙h). Due to the self-supporting network structure, colloidal stability is unnecessary, and the applicability is improved. By simply mixing semiconductor and semiconductor–metal hybrid nanoparticles before gelation, the synthesis of the gels allows the reduction of the metal content, which further tunes the photocatalyst.

AB - In semiconductor-metal hybrid nanoparticles, excited charge carriers can be separated efficiently by transferring the electron to the metal, because the Fermi level is located within the bandgap of the semiconductor. Besides charge carrier separation, the catalytically active surface of the metal enables the use of these charge carriers for further reactions. Due to limited colloidal stability, the application of nanoparticles in solution is challenging. To circumvent these difficulties, the destabilization can be used to build monolithic 3D (non-ordered) gel-like structures with retained high surface area and an ensured diffusion within the network. Here, the resulting nanoparticle-based hydrogels of CdSe/CdS/Pt nanoparticles show photocatalytic hydrogen production rates up to 58 (mmol(H2))/(g∙h). Due to the self-supporting network structure, colloidal stability is unnecessary, and the applicability is improved. By simply mixing semiconductor and semiconductor–metal hybrid nanoparticles before gelation, the synthesis of the gels allows the reduction of the metal content, which further tunes the photocatalyst.

KW - charge carrier separation

KW - NP-based hydrogels

KW - photocatalysis

KW - photocatalytic hydrogen production

KW - semiconductor–metal hybrid

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85188847368&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/admi.202301076

DO - 10.1002/admi.202301076

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85188847368

JO - Advanced materials interfaces

JF - Advanced materials interfaces

SN - 2196-7350

ER -