The conversion of the solar energy into usable hydrogen fuels through water-splitting mechanism is often hampered by the energetically favorable side reaction of electron-hole recombination, which is too fast relative to fuel forming processes. To suppress the energy losses associated with such recombination, we have employed a three-domain nanoparticle architecture utilizing PbS/CdS semiconductor heterostructured nanocrystals appended with Pt catalysts that forces photogenerated charges to localize in the two opposite ends of the composite nano-object, whereby strongly suppressing the back recombination channel. At the same time, fabricated from narrow band gap PbS semiconductor nanocrystals, these photocatalysts enable an efficient conversion of solar light across most of the visible spectrum. The synthesis of these nanostructures and preliminary results on sacrificial hydrogen production from water will be presented.

Hydrogen production through water splitting by platinum decorated PbS/CdS heteronanocrystals

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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