Dimensionality- and Pathway-Engineered Charge Transport Dynamics Mediate Divergent Product Selectivity in Photocatalysis

Shifting from conventional thermodynamic descriptors toward charge transport dynamics regulation has emerged as an innovative-catalyst-design methodology. A general strategy is developed for synthesizing Sv-chalcogenide/Ti3C2 photocatalytic architectures (Sv represents sulfur vacancies; chalcogenides include Zn0.5Cd0.5S, ZnIn2S4, CdIn2S4, CdS) featuring core-shell dual-tunable parameters via metal-organic frameworks-templated topotactic transformation and defect-mediated heterocomponent anchorage. These nanoreactors leverage controlled charge transport behavior, encompassing charge transport dimensionality and charge transport pathway, to manipulate specific molecular catalytic behavior, dictating polyethylene terephthalate (PET) photoreforming pathway bifurcation between dehydrogenation (glyoxylic acid, CHOCOOH) and hydrodeoxygenation (acetic acid, CH3COOH). Specifically, the Zn0.5Cd0.5S topotactic lattice transformation regulates charge transport dimensionality to control the catalyst-substrate interaction/distortion energy, thereby enabling electronic-configuration-dependent adsorption and selective activation of key intermediates for divergent product generation. The Zn0.5Cd0.5S/Ti3C2 interfacial built-in electric field (BIEF) establishment creates directional charge transport pathways that induce photocarrier localization/delocalization, resulting in robust productivity feedback. These adjustable-configuration catalysts achieve dehydrogenation-dominated CHOCOOH (81% selectivity, 2.63 mmol·g-1·h-1) on Sv-Zn0.5Cd0.5S-thin/Ti3C2 and hydrodeoxygenation-driven CH3COOH (86% selectivity, 1.53 mmol·g-1·h-1) on Sv-Zn0.5Cd0.5S-bulk/Ti3C2 during PET conversion. This work establishes a pioneering paradigm for geometrical transformation-charge transport dimensionality-reaction pathway switching and interfacial engineering-charge transport pathway-catalytic activity improvement, elucidating the substantial impact of charge transport behavior on specific molecular catalytic behavior.