Abstract
Ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) have recently gained enormous popularity as a newly emerging light harvester, but many fundamental aspects of their photoelectrochemical behavior are still largely unknown. Unlike traditional photoactive nanoparticles, the NC's core structure, rather than its size, is a key factor that dictates the physical properties of NCs because of a strong quantum confinement effect. Despite this importance, no effort has been made to elucidate the effect of the core structure on the photoelectrochemistry of Au NC-sensitized TiO2 (Au NC-TiO2). Using Au25 NC as a model system, we delicately tailored the icosahedral Au13 core of Au25 NC into a cuboctahedral Au15 core of Au23 NC. This subtle core manipulation has a drastic impact on the entire interfacial behavior of Au NC-TiO2, which in turn significantly affects the photoelectrochemical performance. This new insight highlights the overlooked effect of the core structure on the photoelectrochemistry of Au NC-TiO2.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2305-2312 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | ACS Energy Letters |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2021 Jun 11 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 American Chemical Society.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Chemistry (miscellaneous)
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Fuel Technology
- Energy Engineering and Power Technology
- Materials Chemistry