A study on the role of plasmonic Ti 3 C 2 T x 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, Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene is coupled with a typical heterojunction of TiO 2 @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 TiO 2 @CdS-Ti 3 C 2 T x heterojunctions, the plasmon-induced electric field enhancement of Ti 3 C 2 T x is found to cooperate with the electron-reservoir role of Ti 3 C 2 T x to extract photoinduced electrons. The synergistic dual functions of Ti 3 C 2 T x promote multichannel electron transfer in TiO 2 @CdS-Ti 3 C 2 T x 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 Ti 3 C 2 T x toward boosting the efficiency of solar-to-chemical conversion.