Enriching Hot Electrons via NIR‐Photon‐Excited Plasmon in WS 2 @Cu Hybrids for Full‐Spectrum Solar Hydrogen Evolution

Full‐spectrum solar‐light‐activated photocatalysis remains a challenging pursuit for light‐chemical energy conversion, especially the involvement of near‐infrared (NIR) light. To this end, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) anchored on WS 2 nanosheets (NSs) is designed to expand light response over NIR region for broadband‐solar‐activated photoreduction of water to hydrogen (H 2 ). Under the simulated 1 sun irradiation (100 mW cm −2 ), the optimized WS 2 @Cu nanohybrid exhibits a stable and remarkable H 2 ‐evolution rate of 64 mmol g −1 h −1 , which is about 40 and 2.2 times higher than that of bare WS 2 and Cu, respectively. The SPR on Cu NPs enables hot electron excitation and transfer to WS 2 NSs, with fast charge separation across Schottky interface, rendering enhanced photocatalytic activity with response extending to NIR region beyond λ > 750 nm. This work describes an avenue of plasmon‐mediated NIR utilization for artificial photosynthesis and solar energy conversion.