Tuning the composition of heavy metal-free quaternary quantum dots for improved photoelectrochemical performance

Cheng Liu; Xin Tong; Ali Imran Channa; Xin Li; Zhihang Long; Huijie Feng; Yimin You; Rui Wang; Feng Lin; Chang Fu Dee; Alberto Vomiero; Zhiming M. Wang

doi:10.1039/D0TA11481B

Tuning the composition of heavy metal-free quaternary quantum dots for improved photoelectrochemical performance†

Cheng Liu,^a Xin Tong,

*^ab Ali Imran Channa,

^a Xin Li,^a Zhihang Long,^a Huijie Feng,^a Yimin You,^a Rui Wang,^a Feng Lin,^a Chang Fu Dee,

^e Alberto Vomiero

*^cd and Zhiming M. Wang*^ab

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, P. R. China
E-mail: xin.tong@uestc.edu.cn, zhmwang@uestc.edu.cn

^b Yangtze Delta Region Institute (Huzhou), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Huzhou 313001, P. R. China

^c Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, SE-97187 Luleå, Sweden
E-mail: alberto.vomiero@ltu.se

^d Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30170 Venezia Mestre, Italy

^e Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics (IMEN), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are promising building blocks towards the development of cost-effective and high-efficiency photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. Unfortunately, the frequent use of QDs possessing heavy metals (e.g. Cd and Pb) in state-of-the-art QD-based PEC technologies is a major obstacle regarding their future commercial perspective. In this work, we synthesized heavy metal-free quaternary CuZnInS₃ (CZIS) with variable Cu : Zn ratios and fabricated corresponding QDs-PEC devices via a facile chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. It is revealed that the tuned CZIS (1Zn) QDs (i.e. Cu : Zn ratio of 1 : 1) can result in optimized optical properties including enhanced quantum yield, suppressed nonradiative recombination and extended excitonic lifetime. Accordingly, as-fabricated CZIS (1Zn) QD-based photoanodes demonstrated increased charge transfer rate and decreased electron transport resistance for improved PEC performance. The results indicate that tuning the composition of heavy metal-free multinary QDs is one of the promising pathways to achieve eco-friendly and high-performance PEC systems for solar hydrogen production.

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Tuning the composition of heavy metal-free quaternary quantum dots for improved photoelectrochemical performance†

Abstract

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Tuning the composition of heavy metal-free quaternary quantum dots for improved photoelectrochemical performance

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