G-C3N4/Ti3C2Tx (MXenes) composite with oxidized surface groups for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Issue 19 (2nd May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sun, Yuliang; Jin, Di; Sun, Yuan; Meng, Xing; Gao, Yu; Dall'Agnese, Yohan; Chen, Gang; Wang, Xiao-Feng
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 6:Issue 19(2018)
• Page Start: 9124
• Page End: 9131
• Publication Date: 2018-05-02
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c8ta02706d
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Oxidized surface groups on MXenes for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Abstract : Ti3 C2 T x is a 2-dimensional titanium carbide material featuring outstanding electrochemical properties. In spite of this, application of Ti3 C2 T x as co-catalyst in photo-catalysis is rarely explored, probably because of its metallic nature and hydrophilic surface. Given that Ti3 C2 T x with different surface terminations exhibits large differences in catalytic, electrochemical and chemical properties, we demonstrate an improvement of the photocatalytic activity of Ti3 C2 T x as a co-catalyst by annealing a composite of carbon nitride and Ti3 C2 T x . Ti3 C2 T x with an oxygen terminated surface improved the separation of electron–hole pairs and resulted in a 105% enhancement in the production ratio of hydrogen evolution compared to control samples. The best hydrogen production performance reached as high as 88 μmol h −1 gcat −1 . The apparent quantum yield (AQY) reached as high as 1.27%. The DFT calculations also demonstrate a better hydrogen evolution on Ti3 C2 with oxygen surface termination.