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Internal Nanocavity Regulation of Embedded Rare Earth Up-Conversion Nanoparticles for H2O2 Production Operable at Up
Ben Chong1, Honghui Ou1, Baorong Xu1
1XJTU-Oxford International Joint Laboratory for Catalysis, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Semiconductor photocatalysts embedded with rare earth upconversion nanoparticles (REUPs) are a promising strategy to improve their photoresponse range, but their photocatalytic performance within the near-infrared (NIR) region is far from satisfactory. Here, a method is reported to improve the photocatalytic activity by adjusting the nanocavity of upconversion nanoparticles inside a semiconductor. Two types of CdS embedded with NaYF4:Yb,Er photocatalysts with core-shell structure (no cavity) (NYE/CdS) and yolk-shell structure (empty cavity) (NYE@CdS) are synthesized by different methods. Experimental and theoretical analysis indicates that the yolk-shell structure NYE@CdS can enhance the local fluorescence-induced electric field within the hollow cavity, and realize more effective energy transfer from REUPs to CdS. Notably, the H2O2 production performance of NYE@CdS reaches 0.33 mmol g-1 h-1 under NIR light irradiation (λ > 780 nm), exceeding most of the reported photocatalysts. This research will provide new ideas for the design of high-efficiency photocatalysts for H2O2 production.
