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arXiv · 1608.02804

Probing the Charge Separation Process on In2S3/Pt-TiO2 Nanocomposites for Boosted Visible-light Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Fenglong Wang·Zuanming Jin·Yijiao Jiang·Ellen H. G. Backus·Mischa Bonn·Shi Nee Lou·Dmitry Turchinovich·Rose Amala
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Abstract

A simple refluxing wet-chemical approach is employed for fabricating In2S3/Pt-TiO2 heterogeneous catalysts for hydrogen generation under visible light irradiation. When the mass ratio between Pt-TiO2 and cubic-phased In2S3 (denoted as In2S3/Pt-TiO2) is two, the composite catalyst shows the highest hydrogen production, which exhibits an 82-fold enhancement over in-situ deposited Pt-In2S3. UV-vis diffuse reflectance and valence band X-ray photoelectron spectra elucidate that the conduction band of In2S3 is 0.3 eV more negative compared to that of TiO2, favoring charge separation in the nanocomposites. Photoelectrochemical transient photo-current measurements and optical pump - terahertz probe spectroscopic studies further corroborate the charge separation in In2S3/Pt-TiO2. The migration of photo-induced electrons from the In2S3 conduction band to the TiO2 conduction band and subsequently into the Pt nanoparticles is found to occur within 5 picoseconds. Based on the experimental evidence, a charge separation process is proposed which accounts for the enhanced activity exhibited by the In2S3/Pt-TiO2 composite catalysts.

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Fenglong Wang, Zuanming Jin, Yijiao Jiang, Ellen H. G. Backus, Mischa Bonn, Shi Nee Lou, Dmitry Turchinovich, Rose Amala. 2016-08-09. Probing the Charge Separation Process on In2S3/Pt-TiO2 Nanocomposites for Boosted Visible-light Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2016.05.048

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