Selective Pt-S Anchoring at Interfacial Defects for Atom-Economical Solar Hydrogen Production

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Catalysis
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Defects in photocatalysts critically impact charge transfer, influencing their efficiency.
• Exploiting defect-rich sites offers a novel approach for atom-economical hydrogen production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a defect anchoring strategy for stable and efficient platinum (Pt) deployment in photocatalysts.
• To leverage sulfur-defect sites for precise Pt coordination and enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) kinetics.

Main Methods:

• A defect anchoring strategy utilizing sulfur-defect-rich interfacial sites for Pt-S coordination.
• In situ spectroscopy and first-principles calculations to investigate electron transfer and adsorption thermodynamics.
• Fabrication and testing of a scalable catalyst film via an immersion process.

Main Results:

• Stable Pt deployment achieved at an ultralow loading of 0.084 wt% via defect anchoring.
• Optimized photocatalyst delivered high hydrogen evolution rates (22.43 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under visible light, 91.35 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under full-spectrum irradiation).
• Scalable catalyst film achieved an areal H₂ flux of 331.34 mmol m⁻² h⁻¹ with excellent long-term stability.

Conclusions:

• Defect-anchored Pt-S motifs efficiently extract electrons and optimize hydrogen adsorption for accelerated HER.
• The defect-guided Pt-anchoring strategy is transferable across multiple ZnIn₂S₄-based heterojunctions.
• This approach establishes a general blueprint for atom-economical and scalable solar hydrogen generation by redefining interfacial defects as programmable chemical sockets.