Bioinspired Strategy for Efficient TiO 2 /Au/CdS Photocatalysts Based On Mesocrystal Superstructures in Biominerals and Charge-Transfer Pathway in Natural Photosynthesis.

Natural photosynthesis involves an efficient charge-transfer pathway through exquisitely arranged photosystems and electron transport intermediates, which separate photogenerated carriers to realize high quantum efficiency. It inspires a rational design construction of artificial photosynthesis systems and the architectures of semiconductors are essential to achieve optimal performance. Of note, biomineralization processes could form various mesocrystals with well-ordered superstructures for unique optical applications. Inspired by both natural photosynthesis and biomineralization, we construct a ternary superstructure-based mesocrystal TiO 2 (meso-TiO 2 )/Au/CdS artificial photosynthesis system by a green photo-assisted method. The well-ordered superstructure of meso-TiO 2 and efficient charge-transfer pathway among the three components are crucial for retarding charge recombination. As a result, the meso-TiO 2 /Au/CdS photocatalyst displays enhanced visible light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (4.60 mmol h -1 g -1 ), which is 3.2 times higher than that of commercial TiO 2 (P25)/Au/CdS with disordered TiO 2 nanocrystal aggregates (1.41 mmol h -1 g -1 ). This work provides a promising bioinspired design strategy for photocatalysts with an improved solar conversion efficiency.