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Engineering the Atomic Interface with Single Platinum Atoms for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production
Author(s) -
Chen Yuanjun,
Ji Shufang,
Sun Wenming,
Lei Yongpeng,
Wang Qichen,
Li Ang,
Chen Wenxing,
Zhou Gang,
Zhang Zedong,
Wang Yu,
Zheng Lirong,
Zhang Qinghua,
Gu Lin,
Han Xiaodong,
Wang Dingsheng,
Li Yadong
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201912439
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , catalysis , platinum , materials science , density functional theory , hydrogen , atomic units , hydrogen production , electron transfer , photocatalytic water splitting , electron , water splitting , chemical physics , nanotechnology , chemistry , photochemistry , computational chemistry , physics , biochemistry , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
It is highly desirable but challenging to optimize the structure of photocatalysts at the atomic scale to facilitate the separation of electron–hole pairs for enhanced performance. Now, a highly efficient photocatalyst is formed by assembling single Pt atoms on a defective TiO 2 support (Pt 1 /def‐TiO 2 ). Apart from being proton reduction sites, single Pt atoms promote the neighboring TiO 2 units to generate surface oxygen vacancies and form a Pt‐O‐Ti 3+ atomic interface. Experimental results and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the Pt‐O‐Ti 3+ atomic interface effectively facilitates photogenerated electrons to transfer from Ti 3+ defective sites to single Pt atoms, thereby enhancing the separation of electron–hole pairs. This unique structure makes Pt 1 /def‐TiO 2 exhibit a record‐level photocatalytic hydrogen production performance with an unexpectedly high turnover frequency of 51423 h −1 , exceeding the Pt nanoparticle supported TiO 2 catalyst by a factor of 591.