A study on the role of plasmonic Ti3C2Tx MXene in enhancing photoredox catalysis

Engineering the spatial separation and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers has been one of the most enduring research topics in the field of photocatalysis due to its crucial role in determining the performances of photocatalysts. Herein, as a proof-of-concept, Ti3C2Tx MXene is coupled with a typical heterojunction of TiO2@CdS through a co-assembly strategy to boost electron pumping towards improving the photocatalytic efficiency. In addition to the band alignment-mediated electron transfer in TiO2@CdS–Ti3C2Tx heterojunctions, the plasmon-induced electric field enhancement of Ti3C2Tx is found to cooperate with the electron-reservoir role of Ti3C2Tx to extract photoinduced electrons. The synergistic dual functions of Ti3C2Tx promote multichannel electron transfer in TiO2@CdS–Ti3C2Tx hybrids to improve the photocatalytic efficiency. These results intuitively show that there is a wide scope to manipulate the spatial separation and transfer of photoinduced electrons by cultivating the fertile ground of Ti3C2Tx toward boosting the efficiency of solar-to-chemical conversion.