Ultrathin zinc selenide nanosheet-based intercalation hybrid coupled with CdSe quantum dots showing enhanced photocatalytic CO_2 reduction

Fabrication of well-designed heterojunctions is an extraordinarily attractive pathway for boosting the photocatalytic activity toward CO₂ photoreduction. Herein, a novel kind of nanosheet-based intercalation hybrid coupled with CdSe quantum dots (QDs) was successfully fabricated by a facile solvothermal method and served as photocatalyst for full-spectrum-light-driven CO₂ reduction. Ultra-small CdSe QDs were rationally in-situ introduced and coupled with lamellar ZnSe-intercalation hybrid nanosheet, resulting in the formation of CdSe QDs/ZnSe hybrid heterojunction. Significantly, the concentration of Cd²⁺ could change directly the crystallinity and micromorphology of ZnSe intercalation hybrid, which in turn would impact on the photocatalysis activity. The optimized CdSe QDs/ZnSe hybrid-5 composite demonstrated a considerable CO yield rate of the 25.6 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ without any additional cocatalysts or sacrificial agents assisting, making it one of the best reported performance toward CO₂ photoreduction under full-spectrum light. The elevated CO₂ photoreduction activity could be attributed to the special surface heterojunction, leading to improving the ability of light absorption and promoting the separation/transfer of photogenerated carriers. This present study developed a new strategy for designing inorganic-organic heterojunctions with enhanced photocatalyst for CO₂ photoreduction and provided an available way to simultaneously mitigate the greenhouse effect and alleviate energy shortage pressure.