Dual Vacancy Engineering in Alloyed Ga-Zn-Cu-Se Quantum Dots for Photocatalytic 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-Diformylfuran Conversion
Date
2025
Authors
Guo, M.
Zhao, T.
Chen, S.
Song, L.
Xia, B.
Ran, J.
Qiao, S.-Z.
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Advisors
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Advanced Materials, 2025; e10164-1-e10164-13
Statement of Responsibility
Meijun Guo, Tianyu Zhao, Shuangming Chen, Li Song, Bingquan Xia, Jingrun Ran, and Shi-Zhang Qiao
Conference Name
Abstract
Highly -active/-selective photocatalytic biomass conversion is of great importance for achieving remarkable solar-to-chemical conversion. However, serious challenges, e.g., limited photon utilization, high charge recombination, and sluggish/uncontrolled reaction kinetics, remain for further development in this area. Herein, a dual-vacancy-engineering strategy is employed to regulate the Ga-Zn co-doped Ga-Zn-Cu-Se (GZC) quantum dots (QDs) by a cation exchange route utilizing the CuSe template. The optimized GZC QDs exhibit excellent photocatalytic performances for the selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF), with 89% HMF conversion and 91% DFF selectivity. Advanced ex situ/in situ characterizations, together with theoretical calculations, reveal the origins of the excellent performance: i) Zn doping enhances charge carrier mobility, thereby promoting the HMF-to-DFF conversion rate; ii) Ga doping introduces intermediate states in electronic structure, facilitating better charge separation/transfer; iii) Ga/Zn co-introduction results in formation of Se/Cu vacancies, which play a critical role in charge separation and reactive oxygen species generation. Overall, the research exhibits a rational strategy for designing vacancy-engineered photocatalysts, offering a promising approach for selective biomass conversion.
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OnlinePubl.
Available 27 Aug 2025
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© 2025 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.