Slow Photonic Effect Inducing Improved H2 Generation in Photonic Films with Chiral Nematic Structure

Integrating photonic crystals (PCs) into the design of a photocatalyst can significantly enhance its light-harvesting capability. PCs can manipulate the propagation of light uniquely within a material and reduce its group velocity, thereby enhancing the absorption factor for photocatalysts. However, the slow photon effect in photoactive films with chiral nematic structures has not been reported yet, especially at the blue edge of the photonic bandgap. This work proposes a straightforward one-pot method to fabricate various photonic films with chiral nematic, namely g-C₃N₄/SiO₂, TiO₂/SiO₂, and g-C₃N₄/TiO₂/SiO₂. The sol-gel biotemplating formulation using cellulose nanocrystals successfully leads to the elaboration of films exhibiting variable iridescent colors with photonic bandgap from UV to visible range. The tunable wavelength of the Bragg peak reflection offers the opportunity to access a region with a slow photonic effect, which directly impacts the light-harvesting properties of the photoactive material. It is demonstrated that the H₂ generation is significantly enhanced when the blue edge of the photonic bandgap position overlapped with the absorbance band of the photocatalyst. These results offer the opportunity to design photonic materials with chiral nematic structure and optimize the photocatalytic performance for energy application.