Exploration of CeO2-CuO Quantum Dots in Situ Grown on Graphene under Hypha Assistance for Highly Efficient Solar-Driven Hydrogen Production.

The development of an artificial model of photoinduced hydrogen production system requires efficient, long-term stability and cost-competitive photocatalysts to store solar energy in chemical bonds. However, the existing photocatalysts still suffer from the high cost, high recombination rate of photoexcited electron-hole pairs, and poor photostability. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of a p-type CuO/n-type CeO2 heterojunction in situ grown on graphene via a hypha assistance process. Amazingly, optical and photoelectrochemical measurements show the superiority of this hierarchically biomorphic structure. The observed H2 evolution rate of the CeO2-CuO quantum dots/graphene has reached 2481 µmol·h-1·g-1 and remains unchanged in four hydrogen production cycles. Considering the convenience of microbial culture, this heterostructure system has great potential as a photocatalyst for solar-fuel conversion.