Layer-Dependent Photoinduced Electron Transfer in 0D–2D Lead Sulfide/Cadmium Sulfide–Layered Molybdenum Disulfide Hybrids

We demonstrate layer-dependent electron transfer between core/shell PbS/CdS quantum dots (QDs) and layered MoS 2 via energy band gap engineering of both the donor (QDs) and the acceptor (MoS 2 ) components. We do this by (i) changing the size of the QD or (ii) by changing the number of layers of MoS 2, and each of these approaches alters the band gap and/or the donor–acceptor separation distance, thus providing a means of tuning the charge-transfer rate. We find the charge-transfer rate to be maximal for QDs of smallest size and for QDs combined with a 5-layer MoS 2 or thicker. We model this layer-dependent charge-transfer rate with a theoretical model derived from Marcus theory previously applied to nonadiabatic electron transfer in weakly coupled systems by considering the QD transferring photogenerated electrons to noninteracting monolayers within a few layers of MoS 2 .