Title
Aggregation-Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Evolution Activity of Photosensitizing Cadmium Selenide Quantum Dots and Platinum Colloidal Catalysts
Author
Kana Sawaguchi, Atsushi Kobayashi, Masaki Yoshida, Masako Kato
Year
2016
Journal
Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry
Abstract
We have synthesized CdSe (cadmium selenide) quantum dots (QDs) with three different surface-passivating ligands: 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA), and 4-mercaptomethylbenzoic acid (MMBA). Although all the QDs possessed similar diameters and thiol-based ligands, the MPA-passivated QD exhibited the highest photocatalytic H2 evolution activity in the presence of a polyvinylpyrrolidone-protected Pt (Pt-PVP) colloidal catalyst. Moreover, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements clearly indicated a significant difference in their dispersibility in water. Thus, CdSe-MPA, having the sterically smallest thiol ligand, displayed the largest negative zeta potential and the best dispersibility owing to the presence of negatively charged carboxylate groups on the QD surface. This was sufficient for the QD to disperse as single particles. In contrast, the bulkier MMBA ligand covered the surface of the CdSe QD with a smaller number of ligand moieties, resulting in a smaller zeta potential and the formation of large aggregates (∼126 nm in diameter). In the presence of a Pt-PVP colloid as the hydrogen evolution catalyst, CdSe-MPA formed large aggregates (∼1.6 μm in diameter) with the Pt-PVP colloid by electrostatic interactions. Conversely, CdSe-MMBA did not form such large aggregates with the Pt-PVP colloid. Since the emission of the CdSe QD was effectively quenched in the presence of the Pt-PVP colloid, we concluded that CdSe-MPA exhibits the highest photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity with the Pt-PVP colloidal catalyst because the electron transfer efficiency from the photosensitizing CdSe QD to the Pt-PVP colloidal catalyst is enhanced by the formation of aggregates.
Instrument
FP-6600
Keywords
Fluorescence, Aggregation, Materials