Spin-selection in L-chiral Ag-doped WS₂ nanoflower for photocatalysis

Abstract

In this study, we synthesized a novel heterostructure comprising two-dimensional tungsten sulfide nanoflowers and chiral silver nanoparticles. Leveraging the chiral-induced spin selection (CISS) effect, our WS₂@L-His/Ag(chiral) system achieved a remarkable 77% enhancement in photocatalytic degradation efficiency over the WS₂@Ag(achiral) counterpart. The chiral nanostructures selectively facilitate the transport of electrons with defined spin orientations, thereby suppressing the recombination of electrons and holes and augmenting the generation of hydroxyl radicals, which significantly boosts degradation efficiency. Our findings underscore the potential of electron spin manipulation and herald novel avenues for chiral material applications in spin-dependent photoelectric chemical processes.

Keywords

WS₂ nanoflower / chiral-induced spin selectivity / photocatalysis / degradation

References

[1] Wang H,Zhao X.A review on heterogeneous photocatalysis for environmental remediation: from semiconductors to modification strategies.Chinese J Catal2022;43:178-214

[2] Fujishima A,Tryk D.TiO₂ photocatalysis and related surface phenomena.Surf Sci Rep2008;63:515-82

[3] Liu W,Cheng W.Single-site active cobalt-based photocatalyst with a long carrier lifetime for spontaneous overall water splitting.Angew Chem Int Ed2017;56:9312-7

[4] Wang Y,Sachs M.Current understanding and challenges of solar-driven hydrogen generation using polymeric photocatalysts.Nat Energy2019;4:746-60

[5] Niu Z,Li C.Supporting bimetallic sulfide on 3D TiO₂ hollow shells to boost photocatalytic activity.Chem Eng J2020;390:124602

[6] Hu H.Synergistic effects of carbon vacancies in conjunction with phosphorus dopant across bilayer graphene for the enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction.ACS Omega2024;9:16592-600 PMCID:PMC11007721

[7] Zhang J,Chen L.Intrinsic mechanisms of morphological engineering and carbon doping for improved photocatalysis of 2D/2D carbon nitride van der waals heterojunction.Energy Environ Mater2023;6:e12365

[8] Wang Z,Zhao X.Interfacial defect engineering triggered by single atom doping for highly efficient electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia.ACS Mater Lett2023;5:1018-26

[9] Wan J,Zhang H.Uv-induced stabilization of electron-deficient W single atoms for enhanced NO electroreduction.Chem Eng J2025;510:161833

[10] Fu CF,Yang J.A rationally designed two-dimensional MoSe₂/Ti₂CO₂ heterojunction for photocatalytic overall water splitting: simultaneously suppressing electron-hole recombination and photocorrosion.Chem Sci2021;12:2863-9 PMCID:PMC8179368

[11] Gao W,Yang Y.Electron spin polarization-enhanced photoinduced charge separation in ferromagnetic ZnFe₂O₄.ACS Energy Lett2021;6:2129-37

[12] Pan L,Huang C.Manipulating spin polarization of titanium dioxide for efficient photocatalysis.Nat Commun2020;11:418 PMCID:PMC6972883

[13] Jnawali G,Linser SM.Ultrafast photoinduced band splitting and carrier dynamics in chiral tellurium nanosheets.Nat Commun2020;11:3991 PMCID:PMC7417742

[14] Naaman R,Waldeck DH.Chiral molecules and the electron spin.Nat Rev Chem2019;3:250-60

[15] Pu Y,Lin C.Enhancement of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction in BiOBr through chirality-induced electron spin polarization regulation.Chem Commun2025;61:2580-3

[16] Bian Z,Ogoshi T.Hybrid chiral MoS₂ layers for spin-polarized charge transport and spin-dependent electrocatalytic applications.Adv Sci2022;9:e2201063 PMCID:PMC9189682

[17] Evers F,Bar-Gill N.Theory of chirality induced spin selectivity: progress and challenges.Adv Mater2022;34:e2106629

[18] Lu H,Beard MC.Control of light, spin and charge with chiral metal halide semiconductors.Nat Rev Chem2022;6:470-85

[19] Mondal PC,Kim D,Cohen H.Photospintronics: magnetic field-controlled photoemission and light-controlled spin transport in hybrid chiral oligopeptide-nanoparticle structures.Nano Lett2016;16:2806-11 PMCID:PMC4834632

[20] Mtangi W,Fontanesi C.Role of the electron spin polarization in water splitting.J Phys Chem Lett2015;6:4916-22 PMCID:PMC4685426

[21] Mtangi W,Vankayala K.Control of electrons' spin eliminates hydrogen peroxide formation during water splitting.J Am Chem Soc2017;139:2794-8 PMCID:PMC5330654

[22] Zhang W,Zhang X,Lu G.Surface spintronics enhanced photo-catalytic hydrogen evolution: mechanisms, strategies, challenges and future.Appl Surf Sci2018;434:643-68

[23] Ding W,Liu QC.Structure modulation induced enhancement of microwave absorption in WS₂ nanosheets.Appl Phys Lett2018;113:243102

[24] Wu S,Han J.Construction of two-dimensional Ag/WS₂ hybrid membranes with self-cleaning ability by photocatalysis for efficient water filtration.J Membr Sci2022;641:119865

[25] Han A,Wang X.One-step synthesis of single-site vanadium substitution in 1T-WS₂ monolayers for enhanced hydrogen evolution catalysis.Nat Commun2021;12:709 PMCID:PMC7846562

[26] Zhou Y,Shi X.Regulating photocatalytic CO₂ reduction selectivity via steering cascade multi-step charge transfer pathways in 1T/2H-WS₂/TiO₂ heterojuncitons.Chem Eng J2022;447:137485

[27] Pandey RP,Madhavan VE,Gogotsi Y.Ultrahigh-flux and fouling-resistant membranes based on layered silver/MXene (Ti₃C₂T_x) nanosheets.J Mater Chem A2018;6:3522-33

[28] Grabchenko M,Zaikovskii V,Liotta L.The role of metal-support interaction in Ag/CeO₂ catalysts for CO and soot oxidation.Appl Catal B Environ2020;260:118148

[29] Mani NP,Tomy AM,Cyriac J.Detection and screening of basic amino acids using the luminescence switching of a WS₂ nanosheet-Ag₂O nanoparticle composite.Sens Diagn2022;1:485-95

[30] Fang S,Sun K.Highly efficient thermo-photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline catalyzed by tungsten disulfide under visible light.Environ Chem Lett2023;21:1287-95

[31] Jia P,Chen J.Pt@WS₂ Mott-Schottky heterojunction boosts light-driven active ion transport for enhanced ionic power harvesting.ACS Nano2024;18:35729-37

[32] Kim S,Kim RM.A single chiral nanoparticle induced valley polarization enhancement.Small2020;16:e2003005

[33] Chen P,Hao C.Peptide-directed synthesis of chiral nano-bipyramids for controllable antibacterial application.Chem Sci2022;13:10281-90 PMCID:PMC9473524

[34] Ai M,Shi C.Spin selection in atomic-level chiral metal oxide for photocatalysis.Nat Commun2023;14:4562 PMCID:PMC10382512