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Interface Dynamics in Ag–Cu3P Nanoparticle Heterostructures

Seifner, Michael S. LU orcid ; Snellman, Markus LU ; Makgae, Ofentse A. LU ; Kumar, Krishna LU ; Jacobsson, Daniel LU orcid ; Ek, Martin LU orcid ; Deppert, Knut LU orcid ; Messing, Maria E. LU and Dick, Kimberly A. LU (2021) In Journal of the American Chemical Society
Abstract

Earth-abundant transition metal phosphides are promising materials for energy-related applications. Specifically, copper(I) phosphide is such a material and shows excellent photocatalytic activity. Currently, there are substantial research efforts to synthesize well-defined metal–semiconductor nanoparticle heterostructures to enhance the photocatalytic performance by an efficient separation of charge carriers. The involved crystal facets and heterointerfaces have a major impact on the efficiency of a heterostructured photocatalyst, which points out the importance of synthesizing potential photocatalysts in a controlled manner and characterizing their structural and morphological properties in detail. In this study, we investigated the... (More)

Earth-abundant transition metal phosphides are promising materials for energy-related applications. Specifically, copper(I) phosphide is such a material and shows excellent photocatalytic activity. Currently, there are substantial research efforts to synthesize well-defined metal–semiconductor nanoparticle heterostructures to enhance the photocatalytic performance by an efficient separation of charge carriers. The involved crystal facets and heterointerfaces have a major impact on the efficiency of a heterostructured photocatalyst, which points out the importance of synthesizing potential photocatalysts in a controlled manner and characterizing their structural and morphological properties in detail. In this study, we investigated the interface dynamics occurring around the synthesis of Ag–Cu3P nanoparticle heterostructures by a chemical reaction between Ag–Cu nanoparticle heterostructures and phosphine in an environmental transmission electron microscope. The major product of the Cu–Cu3P phase transformation using Ag–Cu nanoparticle heterostructures with a defined interface as a template preserved the initially present Ag{111} facet of the heterointerface. After the complete transformation, corner truncation of the faceted Cu3P phase led to a physical transformation of the nanoparticle heterostructure. In some cases, the structural rearrangement toward an energetically more favorable heterointerface has been observed and analyzed in detail at the atomic level. The herein-reported results will help better understand dynamic processes in Ag–Cu3P nanoparticle heterostructures and enable facet-engineered surface and heterointerface design to tailor their physical properties.

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Contribution to journal
publication status
published
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in
Journal of the American Chemical Society
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:34949090
  • scopus:85122197448
ISSN
0002-7863
DOI
10.1021/jacs.1c09179
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
id
d418437a-1332-434e-9222-d2aca622c552
date added to LUP
2022-01-30 12:50:57
date last changed
2025-03-24 06:11:11
@article{d418437a-1332-434e-9222-d2aca622c552,
  abstract     = {{<p>Earth-abundant transition metal phosphides are promising materials for energy-related applications. Specifically, copper(I) phosphide is such a material and shows excellent photocatalytic activity. Currently, there are substantial research efforts to synthesize well-defined metal–semiconductor nanoparticle heterostructures to enhance the photocatalytic performance by an efficient separation of charge carriers. The involved crystal facets and heterointerfaces have a major impact on the efficiency of a heterostructured photocatalyst, which points out the importance of synthesizing potential photocatalysts in a controlled manner and characterizing their structural and morphological properties in detail. In this study, we investigated the interface dynamics occurring around the synthesis of Ag–Cu<sub>3</sub>P nanoparticle heterostructures by a chemical reaction between Ag–Cu nanoparticle heterostructures and phosphine in an environmental transmission electron microscope. The major product of the Cu–Cu<sub>3</sub>P phase transformation using Ag–Cu nanoparticle heterostructures with a defined interface as a template preserved the initially present Ag{111} facet of the heterointerface. After the complete transformation, corner truncation of the faceted Cu<sub>3</sub>P phase led to a physical transformation of the nanoparticle heterostructure. In some cases, the structural rearrangement toward an energetically more favorable heterointerface has been observed and analyzed in detail at the atomic level. The herein-reported results will help better understand dynamic processes in Ag–Cu<sub>3</sub>P nanoparticle heterostructures and enable facet-engineered surface and heterointerface design to tailor their physical properties.</p>}},
  author       = {{Seifner, Michael S. and Snellman, Markus and Makgae, Ofentse A. and Kumar, Krishna and Jacobsson, Daniel and Ek, Martin and Deppert, Knut and Messing, Maria E. and Dick, Kimberly A.}},
  issn         = {{0002-7863}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Journal of the American Chemical Society}},
  title        = {{Interface Dynamics in Ag–Cu<sub>3</sub>P Nanoparticle Heterostructures}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c09179}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/jacs.1c09179}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}