Surface Amination for Site‐Selective Activation of Cd Centers in High‐Entropy Sulfide Photocatalysts

ABSTRACT High‐entropy sulfides offer exceptional compositional tunability for catalytic optimization, yet their photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity is often limited by inefficient charge transfer and poorly activated surface metal sites. Here, we report a surface‐functionalized Zn─Cd─Co─Cu─Mn high‐entropy sulfide, in which amino (─NH 2 ) ligands selectively activate Cd centers, enabling efficient cocatalyst‐free photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Surface amination induces the formation of high‐surface‐area two‐dimensional nanosheets and simultaneously modulates the local electronic structure of Cd sites. As a result, the aminated high‐entropy sulfide exhibits a threefold enhancement in photocurrent density and a 16.25‐fold increase in hydrogen evolution rate relative to the non‐functionalized counterpart. Spectroscopic analyses combined with density functional theory calculations reveal that ─NH 2 coordination enhances the electronic accessibility of Cd 4d states, strengthens reactant‐surface coupling, and substantially lowers the energy barriers for both water dissociation and hydrogen evolution. This work establishes surface coordination engineering as a general strategy to unlock the catalytic potential of high‐entropy sulfides and provides a rational pathway toward efficient, cocatalyst‐free photocatalysts.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small Methods
Published
2026-05-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.70726
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Surface Amination for Site‐Selective Activation of Cd Centers in High‐Entropy Sulfide Photocatalysts

Z X Sun, Yi-Xiang Wang, Chunyu Wang, Chaojie Fan et al.
Small Methods
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

Surface Amination for Site‐Selective Activation of Cd Centers in High‐Entropy Sulfide Photocatalysts

Z X Sun, Yi-Xiang Wang, Chunyu Wang, Chaojie Fan, Xinyi Shi, Yuping Wu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT High‐entropy sulfides offer exceptional compositional tunability for catalytic optimization, yet their photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity is often limited by inefficient charge transfer and poorly activated surface metal sites. Here, we report a surface‐functionalized Zn─Cd─Co─Cu─Mn high‐entropy sulfide, in which amino (─NH 2 ) ligands selectively activate Cd centers, enabling efficient cocatalyst‐free photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Surface amination induces the formation of high‐surface‐area two‐dimensional nanosheets and simultaneously modulates the local electronic structure of Cd sites. As a result, the aminated high‐entropy sulfide exhibits a threefold enhancement in photocurrent density and a 16.25‐fold increase in hydrogen evolution rate relative to the non‐functionalized counterpart. Spectroscopic analyses combined with density functional theory calculations reveal that ─NH 2 coordination enhances the electronic accessibility of Cd 4d states, strengthens reactant‐surface coupling, and substantially lowers the energy barriers for both water dissociation and hydrogen evolution. This work establishes surface coordination engineering as a general strategy to unlock the catalytic potential of high‐entropy sulfides and provides a rational pathway toward efficient, cocatalyst‐free photocatalysts.

Small Methods
Nanjing Tech University (CN), Nanjing University of Science and Technology (CN), Energy Storage Systems (United States) (US), Shanghai Institute of Ceramics (CN)
Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Clean water and sanitation
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
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