Unveiling Formation Pathways of Ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Effect on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation
Abstract Understanding the formation mechanisms of semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) is essential for fine‐tuning their optical and electrical properties. Despite their potential in solar energy conversion, the synthesis processes and resulting properties of ternary I–III–VI QDs remain un...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-08-01
|
| Series: | Advanced Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202500829 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849227310608154624 |
|---|---|
| author | Hyo Cheol Lee Hwapyong Kim Kiwook Kim Kyunghoon Lee Wookjin Chung Seung Beom Ha Minseo Kim Eonhyoung Ahn Shi Li Seunghyun Ji Gyudong Lee Hyeonjong Ma Sung Jun Lim Hongsoo Choi Jae‐Yup Kim Hyungju Ahn Su‐Il In Jiwoong Yang |
| author_facet | Hyo Cheol Lee Hwapyong Kim Kiwook Kim Kyunghoon Lee Wookjin Chung Seung Beom Ha Minseo Kim Eonhyoung Ahn Shi Li Seunghyun Ji Gyudong Lee Hyeonjong Ma Sung Jun Lim Hongsoo Choi Jae‐Yup Kim Hyungju Ahn Su‐Il In Jiwoong Yang |
| author_sort | Hyo Cheol Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Understanding the formation mechanisms of semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) is essential for fine‐tuning their optical and electrical properties. Despite their potential in solar energy conversion, the synthesis processes and resulting properties of ternary I–III–VI QDs remain underexplored due to the complex interplay among their constituent elements. Herein, the formation mechanism of ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 QDs is investigated, and a direct correlation between their synthesis pathways and photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation performance is established. Two distinct formation pathways governed by the Lewis acid strength of the precursors are revealed. Precursors with weaker Lewis acid strength, such as indium acetate–alkylamine complexes, induce the nucleation of Cu x S phases, which subsequently transform into CuInS2 QDs. Conversely, exemplified by indium iodide–alkylamine complexes, precursors with stronger Lewis acid strength enable the simultaneous incorporation of all elements during nucleation, resulting in the direct formation of CuInS2 QDs. Notably, QDs synthesized through this direct pathway exhibit significantly improved electrical properties with lower electron trap densities, resulting in outstanding photoelectrochemical hydrogen production with an excellent photocurrent density of 11.3 mA cm−2 at 0.6 VRHE when used as sensitizers in photoanodes. These findings highlight the critical role of formation pathways in tailoring the properties of ternary I–III–VI QDs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9cfc0085b0a949dbad1f6397c211e2f4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2198-3844 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advanced Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-9cfc0085b0a949dbad1f6397c211e2f42025-08-23T14:14:26ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-08-011231n/an/a10.1002/advs.202500829Unveiling Formation Pathways of Ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Effect on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen GenerationHyo Cheol Lee0Hwapyong Kim1Kiwook Kim2Kyunghoon Lee3Wookjin Chung4Seung Beom Ha5Minseo Kim6Eonhyoung Ahn7Shi Li8Seunghyun Ji9Gyudong Lee10Hyeonjong Ma11Sung Jun Lim12Hongsoo Choi13Jae‐Yup Kim14Hyungju Ahn15Su‐Il In16Jiwoong Yang17Department of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Chemical Engineering Dankook University Yongin 16890 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDivision of Nanotechnology Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDivision of Nanotechnology Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDGIST‐ETH Microrobotics Research Center Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Chemical Engineering Konkuk University Seoul 05029 Republic of KoreaPohang Accelerator Laboratory Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) Pohang 37673 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Energy Science and Engineering Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) Daegu 42988 Republic of KoreaAbstract Understanding the formation mechanisms of semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) is essential for fine‐tuning their optical and electrical properties. Despite their potential in solar energy conversion, the synthesis processes and resulting properties of ternary I–III–VI QDs remain underexplored due to the complex interplay among their constituent elements. Herein, the formation mechanism of ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 QDs is investigated, and a direct correlation between their synthesis pathways and photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation performance is established. Two distinct formation pathways governed by the Lewis acid strength of the precursors are revealed. Precursors with weaker Lewis acid strength, such as indium acetate–alkylamine complexes, induce the nucleation of Cu x S phases, which subsequently transform into CuInS2 QDs. Conversely, exemplified by indium iodide–alkylamine complexes, precursors with stronger Lewis acid strength enable the simultaneous incorporation of all elements during nucleation, resulting in the direct formation of CuInS2 QDs. Notably, QDs synthesized through this direct pathway exhibit significantly improved electrical properties with lower electron trap densities, resulting in outstanding photoelectrochemical hydrogen production with an excellent photocurrent density of 11.3 mA cm−2 at 0.6 VRHE when used as sensitizers in photoanodes. These findings highlight the critical role of formation pathways in tailoring the properties of ternary I–III–VI QDs.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202500829I–III–VIformation mechanismhydrogen productionphotoelectrochemical propertiesquantum dots |
| spellingShingle | Hyo Cheol Lee Hwapyong Kim Kiwook Kim Kyunghoon Lee Wookjin Chung Seung Beom Ha Minseo Kim Eonhyoung Ahn Shi Li Seunghyun Ji Gyudong Lee Hyeonjong Ma Sung Jun Lim Hongsoo Choi Jae‐Yup Kim Hyungju Ahn Su‐Il In Jiwoong Yang Unveiling Formation Pathways of Ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Effect on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation Advanced Science I–III–VI formation mechanism hydrogen production photoelectrochemical properties quantum dots |
| title | Unveiling Formation Pathways of Ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Effect on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation |
| title_full | Unveiling Formation Pathways of Ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Effect on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation |
| title_fullStr | Unveiling Formation Pathways of Ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Effect on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unveiling Formation Pathways of Ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Effect on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation |
| title_short | Unveiling Formation Pathways of Ternary I–III–VI CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Their Effect on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation |
| title_sort | unveiling formation pathways of ternary i iii vi cuins2 quantum dots and their effect on photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation |
| topic | I–III–VI formation mechanism hydrogen production photoelectrochemical properties quantum dots |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202500829 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hyocheollee unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT hwapyongkim unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT kiwookkim unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT kyunghoonlee unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT wookjinchung unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT seungbeomha unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT minseokim unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT eonhyoungahn unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT shili unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT seunghyunji unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT gyudonglee unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT hyeonjongma unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT sungjunlim unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT hongsoochoi unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT jaeyupkim unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT hyungjuahn unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT suilin unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration AT jiwoongyang unveilingformationpathwaysofternaryiiiivicuins2quantumdotsandtheireffectonphotoelectrochemicalhydrogengeneration |