Anchoring Ni2P on the UiO‐66‐NH2/g‐C3N4‐derived C‐doped ZrO2/g‐C3N4 Heterostructure: Highly Efficient Photocatalysts for H2 Production from Water Splitting. Issue 15 (30th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Jixiang; Gao, Jianyang; Qi, Yinhong; Wang, Chao; Wang, Lei
• Is Part Of: ChemCatChem. Volume 10:Issue 15(2018)
• Page Start: 3327
• Page End: 3335
• Publication Date: 2018-05-30
• Subjects: graphitic carbon nitride -- hydrogen production -- heterostructures -- nickel -- zirconia; Catalysis -- Periodicals; 541.39505
• DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201800353
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1867-3880

Abstract

Abstract: Constructing heterostructured photocatalysts and depositing an appropriate co‐catalyst to facilitate charge separation are crucial steps to improve photocatalytic H2 evolution from water splitting. Herein, we reported the synthesis of C‐doped ZrO2 /g‐C3 N4 /Ni2 P (C‐ZrO2 /g‐C3 N4 /Ni2 P) composite based on the UiO‐66‐NH2 material for photocatalytic H2 production under visible‐light irradiation. The optimal H2 evolution rate over C‐ZrO2 /g‐C3 N4 /20 %Ni2 P was 10.04 mmol g −1 h −1, which was more than 10 times higher than that of C‐ZrO2 /20 %Ni2 P (0.90 mmol g −1 h −1 ). The apparent quantum yield of C‐ZrO2 /g‐C3 N4 /20 %Ni2 P at 420 nm reached 35.5 %. A detailed analysis of the action mechanism revealed that the improved photocatalytic activity could be ascribed to the highly efficient spatial separation of the photoinduced charge carriers between C‐ZrO2 and g‐C3 N4, as a result of the tightly bound structure of C‐ZrO2 /g‐C3 N4 /20 %Ni2 P and its staggered band energy. The presence of the Ni2 P co‐catalyst accelerates the surface reaction as well. This work demonstrates that anchoring appropriate co‐catalysts onto a metal–organic framework (MOF)/g‐C3 N4 ‐derived metal oxide/g‐C3 N4 hybrid is an effective way to obtain heterostructured photocatalysts for H2 production. Abstract : Three better than two : A tertiary heterostructured C‐doped ZrO2 /g‐C3 N4 /Ni2 P composite based on the UiO‐66‐NH2 metal–organic framework is synthesized for photocatalytic H2 production under visible‐light irradiation. The optimal H2 evolution rate over C‐ZrO2 /g‐C3 N4 /20 %Ni2 P was 10.04 mmol g −1 h −1, which was more than 10 times higher than that of the binary C‐ZrO2 /20 %Ni2 P.