O-Cu-B Single-Atom Photocatalyst

Zero Carrier Loss

Reprograms impurity states into electron-relay states via O-Cu-B asymmetric coordination, eliminating trap-mediated carrier loss for efficient photocatalysis.

Li, Bo · Lu, Qingjie · Chen, Mingpeng · Huachuan, Sun · Zhang, Yumin · Dequan, Li · Zhang, Jin · Zhou, Tong · Liu, Qingju

ACS Nano 2026

Specifications

Apparent Quantum Efficiency

{'zh': '94.7', 'en': '94.7'} %

Enhancement factor in H2 evolution

{'zh': '2.8', 'en': '2.8'}

Advantages

No more carrier trapping

O-Cu-B asymmetric coordination delocalizes Cu-related impurity states, lowering the effective barrier for thermally assisted detrapping and suppressing trap-mediated nonradiative loss.

Near-unity quantum efficiency

An apparent quantum efficiency of 94.7% means nearly all absorbed photons contribute to the catalytic reaction.

Doubled H2 evolution

A 2.8-fold enhancement in H2 evolution relative to the localized-trap control proves the effectiveness of the delocalization design.

Applications

• Efficient Photocatalytic Water Splitting：Splits water with 94.7% quantum efficiency, nearly no photocarrier loss.
• Solar Hydrogen Production：Achieves efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion, breaking traditional photocatalysis bottleneck.
• Single-Atom Catalytic Systems：Coordination engineering modulates single-atom impurity states, offering a general carrier-management strategy.
• Advanced Photocatalytic Materials：O-Cu-B coordination design creates advanced photocatalytic material with delocalized impurity states for higher efficiency.