Study on the preparation of netted InP/ZnS quantum dot aggregates and their photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

A promising technology, photocatalytic hydrogen production allows the direct conversion of solar energy into chemically clean fuels. The property of quantum dots as photocatalysts is crucial to photocatalytic hydrogen production. In the present work, InP/ZnS quantum dots ware chosen as a photocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production because of the advantages of low toxicity, safe environmental conditions and good hydrogen production performance. It was found that adjusting the degree of aggregation of InP/ZnS quantum dots by changing the pH and using synthetic reticulated aggregates instead of isolated quantum dots is an effective way to increase hydrogen production. It was concluded experimentally that when the InP/ZnS quantum dot system were in pH=3 and paired with sodium(L)-ascorbate as electron donor, excellent hydrogen performance was obtained with 1.6 times the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of ordinary InP/ZnS quantum dots.