Electron Injection via Interfacial Atomic Au Clusters Substantially Enhance the Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic H<sub>2</sub> Production of the PF3T Enclosed TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanocomposite
Jui‐Cheng Kao, Dinesh Bhalothia, Zan‐Xiang Wang, Hao‐Wu Lin, Fan‐Gang Tseng, Li‐Yu Ting, Ho‐Hsiu Chou, Yu‐Chieh Lo, Jyh‐Pin Chou, Tsan‐Yao Chen
Abstract
Abstract A hybrid composite of organic–inorganic semiconductor nanomaterials with atomic Au clusters at the interface decoration (denoted as PF3T@Au‐TiO 2 ) is developed for visible–light‐driven H 2 production via direct water splitting. With a strong electron coupling between the terthiophene groups, Au atoms and the oxygen atoms at the heterogeneous interface, significant electron injection from the PF3T to TiO 2 occurs leading to a quantum leap in the H 2 production yield (18 578 µmol g −1 h −1 ) by ≈39% as compared to that of the composite without Au decoration (PF3T@TiO 2 , 11 321 µmol g −1 h −1 ). Compared to the pure PF3T, such a result is 43‐fold improved and is the best performance among all the existing hybrid materials in similar configurations. With robust process control via industrially applicable methods, it is anticipated that the findings and proposed methodologies can accelerate the development of high‐performance eco‐friendly photocatalytic hydrogen production technologies.