Nonepitaxial Gold-Tipped ZnSe Hybrid Nanorods for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

For the first time, colloidal gold (Au)–ZnSe hybrid nanorods (NRs) with controlled size and location of Au domains are synthesized and used for hydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting. Au tips are found to grow on the apices of ZnSe NRs nonepitaxially to form an interface with no preference of orientation between Au(111) and ZnSe(001). Density functional theory calculations reveal that the Au tips on ZnSe hybrid NRs gain enhanced adsorption of H compared to pristine Au, which favors the hydrogen evolution reaction. Photocatalytic tests reveal that the Au tips on ZnSe NRs effectively enhance the photocatalytic performance in hydrogen generation, in which the single Au-tipped ZnSe hybrid NRs show the highest photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of 437.8 µmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ in comparison with a rate of 51.5 µmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ for pristine ZnSe NRs. An apparent quantum efficiency of 1.3% for hydrogen evolution reaction for single Au-tipped ZnSe hybrid NRs is obtained, showing the potential application of this type of cadmium (Cd)-free metal–semiconductor hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) in solar hydrogen production. This work opens an avenue toward Cd-free hybrid NP-based photocatalysis for clean fuel production.