In situ irradiated X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on Ag-WS₂ heterostructure for hydrogen production enhancement

The hot electron transition of noble materials to catalysis accelerated by localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) was detected by in situ irradiated X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ISI-XPS) in this article. This paper synthesized an Ag Nanowire (AgNW) @ WS₂ core-shell structure, with an ultra-thin shell of WS₂ (3 ∼ 7 nm), and characterized its photocatalytic properties. The AgNW@WS₂ core-shell structure exhibited different surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) effects by changing shell thickness, indicating that the effect of AgNW could be controlled by WS₂ shell. Furthermore, the hydrogen production of AgNW@WS₂ could reach to 356% of that of pure WS₂. The hot electrons arising from the LSPRs effect broke through the Schottky barrier between WS₂ and AgNW and transferred to the WS₂ shell, whose photocatalytic effect was thus enhanced. In addition, when the LSPRs effect was intensified by reducing the shell thickness, the hot electron transition of noble materials to catalysis was accelerated.