Plasmonic quaternary heteronanostructures (HNSs) for improved solar light utilization, spatial charge separation, and...

Recently, the frenetic development of stable quaternary material with a wide range of solar energy absorption and separation of charge carrier has emerged as a favorable material for the solar-to-hydrogen conversion. In this work, quaternary CuS-AgVO₃/Ag-TNR heteronanostructures (HNSs) synthesized by an ultra-sonication method for stabilized solar light photocatalytic hydrogen production in glycerol-water mixture. Among the prepared photocatalysts, the 1 wt% CuS-AgVO₃/Ag-TNR HNS produced the highest H₂ activity (756 µmol/g), approximately 84 times greater than the TNR due to higher charge separation, excellent conductivity, plasmonic resonance effect, and electron-storing capacity. Interestingly, the accelerated charge transfer pathway through the Schottky junction between the AgVO₃ and Ag to the conduction band of the TNR and thereafter to the electron acceptor of CuS for the reduction of H⁺ ions to H₂. Additionally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism of CuS-AgVO₃/Ag-TNR HNS for improved H₂ production was proposed based on the results obtained by various characterization techniques. Therefore, present research work explores the new insights to design high-performance CuS-AgVO₃/Ag-TNR HNS material for the conversion of clean renewable H₂ energy for the futuristic transport applications.