Studies on Electron Escape Condition in Semiconductor Nanomaterials via Photodeposition Reaction

In semiconductor material-driven photocatalysis systems, the generation and migration of charge carriers are core research contents. Among these, the separation of electron-hole pairs and the transfer of electrons to a material’s surface played a crucial role. In this work, photodeposition, a photocatalysis reaction, was used as a “tool” to point out the electron escaping sites on a material’s surface. This “tool” could be used to visually indicate the active particles in photocatalyst materials. Photoproduced electrons need to be transferred to the surface, and they will only participate in reactions at the surface. By reacting with escaped electrons, metal ions could be reduced to nanoparticles immediately and deposited at electron come-out sites. Based on this, the electron escaping conditions of photocatalyst materials have been investigated and surveyed through the photodeposition of platinum. Our results indicate that, first, in monodispersed nanocrystal materials, platinum nanoparticles deposited randomly on a particle’s surface. This can be attributed to the abundant surface defects, which provide driving forces for electron escaping. Second, platinum nanoparticles were found to be deposited, preferentially, on one side in heterostructured nanocrystals. This is considered to be a combination result of work function difference and existence of heterojunction structure.