Interface engineering in CeO₂ (111) facets decorated with CdSe quantum dots for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

The interfaces of heterostructures have been widely studied in the field of photocatalytic H₂ evolution reaction (HER). In the present study, the CdSe QDs/CeO₂(111) heterostructures were synthesized by wet chemistry method. The CdSe QDs/CeO₂(111)-0.075 showed higher photocatalytic H₂ evolution with 283.32 µmol g^-1h^-1, because of the enhanced light absorbance intensity and edge, lower recombination, higher separation and transfer, as well as longer lifetime of the photogenerated carrier. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further confirmed that the enhanced HER activity of CdSe QDs/CeO₂(111) heterostructures is resulted from a stronger water adsorption, a lower energy barrier of water dissociation and a more optimal free energy of hydrogen adsorption than CdSe and CeO₂. The strategy of construction heterostructures provides a promising pathway for enhancing the performance of photocatalytic H₂ evolution as well as other catalytic reactions.