The capability of semiconductor nanomaterials to convert solar energy to chemical energy has led to many promising applications, for instance, photocatalyzed H2 generation. However, traditional ensemble-averaged measurements washed out the intrinsic structural and functional heterogeneity among individuals, which hampered the microscopic understanding on the reaction kinetics and mechanisms. Despite the huge opportunity brought by single nanoparticle catalysis method, semiconductor catalyzed H2 evolution reaction has not been explored at single nanoparticle level until our recent work based on sophisticated surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM). Herein, we report a fluorescence (FL) labeling strategy to visualize individual H2 nanobubbles that are generated at single CdS nanoparticles during photocatalysis. In operando imaging of the nanobubble growth kinetics allows for determining the photocatalytic activity of single CdS nanocatalysts, which was found to stochastically alternate among high activity, low activity and inactive states. Because nanomaterials-catalyzed gas generation is widely involved in many important photochemical (water splitting), electrochemical (electrolysis) and chemical reactions (nanomotors), the present work promises the general applicability of single nanoparticle catalysis in broad basic and industrial fields by lighting up the nanobubbles under commercial and conventional FL microscopes.

Monitoring the dynamic photocatalytic activity of single CdS nanoparticles by fluorescently labeling H2 nanobubbles

256th National Meeting (2018)

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