A coating strategy to achieve effective local charge separation for photocatalytic coevolution

Semiconductors of narrow bandgaps and high quantum efficiency have not been broadly utilized for photocatalytic coevolution of H₂ and O₂ via water splitting. One prominent issue is to develop effective protection strategies, which not only mitigate photocorrosion in an aqueous environment but also facilitate charge separation. Achieving local charge separation is especially challenging when these reductive and oxidative sites are placed only nanometers apart compared to two macroscopically separated electrodes in a photoelectrochemical cell. Additionally, the driving force of charge separation, namely the energetic difference in the barrier heights across the two type of sites, is small. Herein, we used conformal coatings attached by nanoscale cocatalysts to transform two classes of tunable bandgap semiconductors, i.e., CdS and GaInP₂, into stable and efficient photocatalysts. We used hydrogen evolution and redox-mediator oxidation for model study, and further constructed a two-compartment solar fuel generator that separated stoichiometric H₂ and O₂ products. Distinct from the single charge-transfer direction reported for conventional protective coatings, the coating herein allows for concurrent injection of photoexcited electrons and holes through the coating. The energetic difference between reductive and oxidative catalytic sites was regulated by selectivity and local kinetics. Accordingly, the charge separation behavior was validated using numerical simulations. Following this design principle, the CdS/TiO₂/Rh@CrOₓ photocatalysts evolved H₂ while oxidizing reversible polysulfide redox mediators at a maximum rate of 90.6 μmol·h−1·cm−2 by stacking three panels. Powered by a solar cell, the redox-mediated solar water-splitting reactor regenerated the polysulfide repeatedly and achieved solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 1.7%.