Rational design of efficient near-infrared photon conversion channel via dual-upconversion process for superior photocatalyst

Utilization of up-conversion materials is an effective strategy to realize near-infrared (NIR) light driven photocatalysis. However, their wide emission range lead to the low utilization efficiency of near-infrared light. In this paper, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and NaYF4: Yb3+, Tm3+ (NYF) are used to construct efficient photon conversion channel, which could realize effective utilization of NIR light via dual-upconversion process. Under 980 nm laser light irradiation, NYF emits discontinuous light in the range of 292–805 nm. Only lights below 519.8 nm can be absorbed by Ag3PO4 directly. The lights above 519.8 nm are also utilized by Ag3PO4 after the secondary conversion of CQDs. Such secondary light conversion significantly promotes the NIR light utilization efficiency by Ag3PO4. This work provides a new insight into designing and constructing superior photocatalyst by dual photon conversion channel for NIR light utilization.