Plasmonic coupling-boosted photothermal nanoreactor for efficient solar light-driven photocatalytic water splitting

Photothermal nanoreactor with rapid charge transfer and improved spectral utilization is a key point in photocatalysis research. Herein, silver sulfide quantum dots (Ag₂S QDs) were coating on the surface of porous graphitic carbon nitride nano vesicles (PCNNVs) to form Ag₂S/PCNNVs nanoreactors by a simple calcination method for obtaining efficient photothermal-assisted photocatalytic hydrogen (H₂) evolution under simulated/real sunlight irradiation. In particularly, the as-prepared optimal 3% Ag₂S/PCNNVs sample exhibited the H₂ production rate of 34.8 mmol h^-1 g^-1, which was 3.5 times higher than that of bare PCNNVs. The enhancement of photothermal-assisted activity over the Ag₂S/PCNNVs composite system is mainly attributed to the coupling of the photothermal conversion performance of Ag₂S QDs and the thermal insulation performance of PCNNVs based on the plasmonic coupling-boosted photothermal nanoreactor. This study presents a promising strategy for the development of high-efficient photothermal-assisted photocatalysts.