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Photocatalytic water splitting

Longer lifetimes through quantum effects

The effectiveness of solar-driven water splitting is constrained by inefficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers and their rapid recombination. Researchers now show that multilayered structures that exhibit quantum effects by confining electrons in thin layers can optimize charge carrier dynamics, resulting in photocatalysts with remarkable efficiency.

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Fig. 1: Quantum superlattice strategy to increase artificial photosynthesis efficiency.

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Correspondence to Jing Gu.

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He, F., Gu, J. Longer lifetimes through quantum effects. Nat Energy (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-01996-w

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