Photocatalytic water splitting with colloidal suspensions is conceptually the most simple and inexpensive pathway to hydrogen fuel from solar energy. Nanoscaling is widely considered to improve the efficiency of such catalysts, but as a detailed analysis shows, nanostructures also have considerable disadvantages.  Using recent examples from this laboratory, this talk discusses the effects of nanostructuring on carrier generation, separation, and recombination, as well as the possibility of controlling nanostructure energetics and reactivity via potential determining ions and quantum size effects.

Suspended inorganic nanocrystals as photocatalysts for the water splitting reaction

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.