Semiconductor photoactivity enhancement by Pd nanoparticles and graphene as dual cocatalysts

What is it about?

Photocatalytic energy conversion based on semiconductors provides a promising, green approach for solving environmental and energy problems. In this work, we use Pd nanoparticles and graphene as dual cocatalysts to facilitate electron transfer process, thus enhancing the visible-light photoactivity of semiconductor indium sulfide for selective organic transformations.

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Why is it important?

The preparation of ternary composites with dual cocatalyst often involves the introduction of the cocatalysts one-by-one. In contrast, in this work, Pd nanoparticles (cocatalyst I) were firstly anchored on the surface of graphene oxide (GO, the precursor of cocatalyst II) by a facile and clean process without the addition of surfactant and reductant. Then, the obtained GO-Pd (the precursor of dual cocatalysts) serves as a platform for the growth of semiconductor indium sulfide to synthesize ternary hybrids with enhanced photoactivity toward selective oxidation reactions.

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