Electrospun one dimensional (1D) and two dimensional (2D) carbon based polymer nanocomposites are studied in order to determine the effect provided by the two differently structured nanofillers on crystallinity and thermo-mechanical properties of the nanofibres. The nanomaterials studied are pristine carbon nanotubes, oxidised carbon nanotubes, reduced graphene oxide and graphene oxide. Functional groups associated with the order structure of the polymers are analysed by infrared and Raman spectroscopies; the morphology is studied by scanning electron microscopy and the crystallinity properties are investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. Differences in crystallisation behaviour between 1D and 2D carbon based nanofibres are shown by their crystallinity degree and their crystal sizes. The nanocomposite crystal sizes perpendicular to the plane (100) decrease with nanofiller content in all cases. The crystallinity trend and crystal sizes are in accordance with storage modulus response. The results also suggest that functionalisation favours interfacial bonding and dispersion of the nanomaterials within the polymer matrix. As a consequence the number of nucleating sites increases which in turn decreases the crystal size in the nanocomposites. These features explain the improved thermo-mechanical properties in the nanocomposites.

Here, a facile approach to enhance the performance of solar‐driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is described by means of the synergistic effects of a hybrid network of plasmonic Au nanoparticles (NPs) decorated on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The device based on TiO₂–Au:CNTs hybrid network sensitized with colloidal CdSe/(CdSe_xS_1−x)₅/(CdS)₁ core/alloyed shell quantum dots (QDs) yields a saturated photocurrent density of 16.10 ± 0.10 mA cm⁻² [at 1.0 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)] under 1 sun illumination (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm⁻²), which is ≈26% higher than the control device. The in‐depth mechanism behind this significant improvement is revealed through a combined experimental and theoretical analysis for QDs/TiO₂–Au:CNTs hybrid network and demonstrates the multifaceted impact of plasmonic Au NPs and CNTs: i) hot‐electron injection from Au NPs into CNTs and TiO₂; ii) near‐field enhancement of the QDs absorption and carrier generation/separation processes by the plasmonic Au NPs; iii) enhanced photoinjected electron transport due to the highly directional pathways offered by CNTs. These results provide fundamental insights on the properties of QDs/TiO₂–Au:CNTs hybrid network, and highlights the possibility to improve the performance of other solar technologies.

Here, we report a CdSe/CdSeS alloy/CdS core/shell/shell QD sensitized mesoporous TiO₂ photoanode, which exhibits high performance and long-term stability for solar-driven hydrogen generation.

SnO₂–TiO₂ heterostructure photoanode sensitized by CdSe/CdS core/thick-shell “giant” QDs demonstrate an unprecedented stability of ∼96%.