Photocatalytic Carbon Nanodots: Mechanisms and Structural Insights

ALEJANDRO CADRANEL; REVA, YANA; JANA, BIKASH; GULDI, D. M.

Conferencia; 11th SolTech Conference; 2022

Upon photoexcitation, CNDs engage in energy transfer and electron transfer reactions with a variety of electron donors and acceptors.[1] These reactions underlie any solar energy conversion scheme, and therefore suggest that CNDs are attractive candidates for photocatalytic solar fuel production. CNDs have been incorporated to several photocatalytic designs, but they were inactive in the absence of powerful co-catalysts like platinum nanoparticles or molecular nickel complexes.[2] Our goal is to develop photocatalytic CND materials that combine the functions of light absorption and catalysis without the needs of any co-catalyst. One of the bottlenecks in the design of tailer-made CNDs is the little knowledge about their exact structure at the molecular level. This talk will be focused on the elucidation of the structure and photocatalytic mechanism of CNDs for hydrogen production.[3] Next, advances in tuning light absorption features of CNDs, based on their molecular structure, will be presented.