Well-designed Te/SnS₂/Ag artificial nanoleaves for enabling and enhancing visible-light driven overall splitting of pure water

To produce hydrogen and oxygen from photocatalytic overall splitting of pure water provides a promising green route to directly convert solar energy to clean fuel. However, the design and fabrication of high-efficiency photocatalyst is challenging. Here we present that by connecting different nanostructures together in a rational fashion, components that cannot individually split water into H₂ and O₂ can work together as efficient photocatalyst with high solar-to-hydrogen (STH) energy conversion efficiency and avoid the use of any sacrificial reagent. Specifically, Te/SnS₂/Ag artificial nanoleaves (ANLs) consist of ultrathin SnS₂ nanoplates grown on Te nanowires and decorated with numerous Ag nanoparticles. The appropriate band structure of Te/SnS₂ p-n junctions and the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles synergistically enhance the quantum yield and separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs. As a result, Te/SnS₂/Ag ANLs enable visible-light driven overall water-splitting without any sacrificial reagent and exhibit high H₂ and O₂ production rates of 332.4 and 166.2 μmol h⁻¹, respectively. Well-preserved structure after long-term measurement indicates its high stability. It represents a feasible approach for direct H₂ production from only sunlight, pure water, and rationally-designed ANL photocatalysts.