Enhanced localized dipole of Pt-Au single-site catalyst for solar water splitting

Abstract

Significance Single-atom or single-site catalysts have received considerable research interest in photocatalysis and many other heterogeneous catalytic processes. However, the single metal sites did not obviously change the charge transportation process of the photocatalyst and thus hardly contributed to the enhancement of charge separation and transfer. Inspired by the synergy between metal species in classical catalytic reactions, this research presents a strategy of constructing a Pt-Au binary single-site catalyst. Pt-Au binary single sites not only functioned as the catalytic reactive sites but also modulated the charge distribution and enhanced the internal electric field. The concept and the strategy of this work are expected to provide a novel perspective for improving photocatalytic charge transportation dynamics.