Nanocrystals could bring photocatalysis to the masses

Synthetic chemists could soon see a new addition to the catalysts available to them. Researchers at INAC recently showed that core-shell nanocrystals (cadmium selenide-zinc sulfide) are effective catalysts. First, they are active in water, under visible light. Even better, they can transfer several electrons at once, creating complex reactions. The researchers have successfully stabilized these nanocrystals, which had a tendency to oxidize very rapidly, and are now adjusting the energy level to the reactions they hope to achieve. The overriding purpose of this research is to provide a viable alternative to iridium and ruthenium complexes, which are currently widely used as photocatalysts, but have the disadvantage of being less adaptable and much more expensive than the new catalyst.  

Contact: vincent.maurel@cea.fr
See article in the Journal of Physical Chemistry: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b04396

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