Phosphine ligand-mediated kinetics manipulation of aqueous cation exchange: a case study on the synthesis of Au@SnSx core–shell nanocrystals for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

Au@Sn₂S₃ and Au@SnS₂ core–shell hybrid nanocrystals (HNCs) were respectively accessed via an aqueous cation exchange-mediated growth strategy by using different phosphine ligands. The choice of proper ligands during synthesis is imperative to optimize the photoelectrochemical performance of these previously hardly accessible HNCs that manifest compelling plasmon–exciton interactions.