In-plane heterostructured Ag2S-In2S3 atomic layers enabling boosted CO2 photoreduction into CH4

• DOI: 10.1007/s12274-021-3365-4
• Publication Date: 2021-03-02T07:02:26Z
• Authors: Weiwei Shao; Shumin Wang; Juncheng Zhu; Xiaodong Li; Xingchen Jiao; Yang Pan; Yongfu Sun; Yi Xie
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology; 7. Clean energy; 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

Sluggish separation and migration kinetics of the photogenerated carriers account for the low-efficiency of CO2 photoreduction into CH4. Design and construction two-dimensional (2D) in-plane heterostructures demonstrate to be an appealing approach to address above obstacles. Herein, we fabricate 2D in-plane heterostructured Ag2S-In2S3 atomic layers via an ion-exchange strategy. Photoluminescence spectra, time-resolved photoluminescence spectra, and photoelectrochemical measurements firmly affirm the optimized carrier dynamics of the In2S3 atomic layers after the introduction of in-plane heterostructure. In-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra and density functional theory (DFT) calculations disclose the in-plane heterostructure contributes to CO2 activation and modulates the adsorption strength of CO* intermediates to facilitate the formation of CHO* intermediates, which are further protonated to CH4. In consequence, the in-plane heterostructure achieves the CH4 evolution rate of 20 µmol·g−1·h−1, about 16.7 times higher than that of the In2S3 atomic layers. In short, this work proves construction of in-plane heterostructures as a promising method for obtaining high-efficiency CO2-to-CH4 photoconversion properties.