Doping Sn4+ ionized cocatalyst in CdSe/S colloidal crystal for promoting photocatalytic CO2 reduction under visible light

The exploration of low-cost and efficient cocatalysts is vitally important for attaining reliable and affordable photocatalytic CO 2 conversion. Here, it is found that post-transition metal ions (Sn 4+ ) doped CdSe/S colloidal crystal can serve as effective photocatalyst for CO 2 reduction under visible light, in which Sn 4+ serves as an ionized cocatalyst. Specifically, Sn 4+ doped CdSe/S colloidal crystal shows an improved and stable photocatalytic CO 2 reduction performance with CO generation rate of 50.3 μmol h −1 and H 2 generation rate of 7.8 μmol h −1 in the presence of triethanolamine as sacrificial agent. The improved photocatalytic activity can be ascribed to the increased light harvesting ability, enhanced CO 2 adsorption capability and the improved surface charge transfer efficiency induced by Sn 4+ dopant.