Layer-by-layer self-assembly of CdS quantum dots/graphene nanosheets hybrid films for photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic applications.

In recent years, increasing interest has been devoted to synthesizing graphene-semiconductor nanocomposites as efficient photocatalysts for extensive applications. Unfortunately, it is still challenging to make uniform graphene-semiconductor composite films with controllable film thickness and architecture, which are of paramount importance to meet the application requirements. In this work, stable aqueous dispersion of polymer-modified graphene nanosheets (GNs) was prepared via in situ reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide in the presence of cationic poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH). The resultant water-soluble PAH-modified GNs (GNs-PAH) in conjunction with tailor-made negatively charged CdS quantum dots (QDs) were utilized as nanobuilding blocks for sequential layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly of well-defined GNs-CdS QDs hybrid films, in which CdS QDs overspread evenly on the two-dimensional (2D) GNs. It was found that the alternating GNs-CdS QDs multilayered films showed significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic activities under visible light irradiation as compared to pure CdS QDs and GNs films. The enhancement was attributed to the judicious integration of CdS QDs with GNs in an alternating manner, which maximizes the 2D structural advantage of GNs in GNs-CdS QDs composite films. In addition, photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical mechanisms of the GNs-CdS QDs multilayered films were also discussed. It is anticipated that our work may open new directions for the fabrication of uniform semiconductor/GNs hybrid films for a wide range of applications.