Single Atom Ag Bonding between Pf3t Nanocluster and Tio2 Leads the Ultra-Stable Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic H2 Production

Atomic Ag clusters bonding is employed to reinforce the interface between PF3T nano-cluster and TiO2 nanoparticle. With an optimized Ag loading (Ag/TiO2 = 0.5 wt%), the Ag atoms will uniformly disperse on TiO2 thus generate a high density of intermediate states in the band gap to form the electron channel between the terthiophene group of PF3T and the TiO2 in the hybrid composite (denoted as T@Ag05-P). The former expands the photon absorption band width and the later facilitates the core-hole splitting via injecting the photon excited electron (from the excitons in PF3T) to the conduction band (CB) of TiO2. These characteristics enable the high efficiency of H2 production to 16,580 μmol h-1g-1 and photocatalysis stability without degradation under visible light exposure for 96 h. Compared to that of hybrid material without Ag bonding (TiO2@PF3T), the H2 production yield and stability are improved by 4.1 and 18.2-folds which showing the best performance among existing materials in similar component combination and interfacial reinforcement. The unique bonding method offers a new prospect to accelerate the development of photocatalytic hydrogen production technologies.