Journal of Chemical Engineering & Process Technology

Journal of Chemical Engineering & Process Technology
Open Access

ISSN: 2157-7048

+44-77-2385-9429

Hybrid metal-Cu2S nanostructures as efficient co-catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen generation


3rd International Conference on Chemical Engineering

October 02-04, 2017 Chicago, USA

Jong-Soo Lee and Jeong-Hyun Park

Department of Energy Science & Engineering, Republic of South Korea

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Chem Eng Process Technol

Abstract :

In recent years, hybrid nanocrystals (HNs) have emerged as an important class of materials to tune the optical, electrical, magnetic and catalytic properties of nanocrystals. In HNs, two disparate functional material systems (i.e., metal/magnet, metal/ semiconductor and magnet/semiconductor) are combined through their crystal facets, which results in the nontrivial synergetic effects including extinction enhancement due to the coupling of surface plasmon resonance and electronic doping by the intraparticle charge transfer. Among different types of HNs, metal-semiconductor HNs are of particular interest in photocatalysis because it can provide a very good light absorbing semiconductor properties and catalytically active metal nanostructure properties. In the previous report, Pt-CdS/Se NCs exhibited high photocatalytic activity as well as stability. However, the toxicity associated with cadmium based semiconductors has driven research into possible alternative materials. Copper (I) sulfide (Cu2S), a p-type semiconductor with a narrow bandgap of 1.2 eV, has been explored as a light absorber in photovoltaics and optoelectronic devices due to its nontoxic and earth-abundant constituents. Also, Cu2S nanostructures have also shown high catalytic activity for polysulfide redox systems in quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells. Cu2S nanocrystals with diverse shapes have been synthesized and employed in various applications. However, the synthesis and application of metal-Cu2S HNs have rarely been reported. In this presentation, we introduce a new synthesis method for the fabrication of hybrid metal-Cu2S (M=Pt, FePt) nanocrystals (HNs). The metal-Cu2S HNs were investigated in photocatalytic hydrogen generation as effective co-catalysts on TiO2. The Pt-Cu2S/TiO2 catalyst showed higher hydrogen generation rate compared with a pure TiO2 catalyst. This enhancement is attributed to the synergetic effects between the Cu2S and Pt, which significantly improves the light absorption ability and the charge separation activity.

Biography :

Prof. Jong-Soo Lee has been an associate professor of Department of Energy Science & Engineering since January 2017. He joined DGIST in July 2012 as an assistant professor. The research interestings of his group are design of new type of nanomaterials for nanomaterial-based electronic, optoelectronic, and catalytic applications.

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