All-solid-state Z-scheme in CdS–Au–TiO2 three-component nanojunction system

Natural photosynthesis, which achieves efficient solar energy conversion through the combined actions of many types of molecules ingeniously arranged in a nanospace, highlights the importance of a technique for site-selective coupling of different materials to realize artificial high-efficiency devices1. In view of increasingly serious energy and environmental problems, semiconductor-based artificial photosynthetic systems consisting of isolated photochemical system 1 (PS1), PS2 and the electron-transfer system have recently been developed2,3. However, the direct coupling of the components is crucial for retarding back reactions to increase the reaction efficiency. Here, we report a simple technique for forming an anisotropic CdS–Au–TiO2 nanojunction, in which PS1(CdS), PS2(TiO2) and the electron-transfer system (Au) are spatially fixed. This three-component system exhibits a high photocatalytic activity, far exceeding those of the single- and two-component systems, as a result of vectorial electron transfer driven by the two-step excitation of TiO2 and CdS.