Sustainable hydrogen production by molybdenum carbide-based efficient photocatalysts: From properties to mechanism

Hydrogen is considered to be a promising energy carrier to solve the issue of energy crisis. Molybdenum carbide (Mo_xC) is the typical material, which has similar properties of Pt and thought to be an attractive alternative to noble metals for H₂ evolution. The study of Mo_xC as alternative catalyst for H₂ production is almost focused on electrocatalytic field, while the application of Mo_xC as a co-catalyst in photocatalytic H₂ evolution has received in-depth research in recent years. Particularly, Mo_xC exhibits significant enhancement in the H₂ production performance of semiconductors under visible light irradiation. However, a review discussing Mo_xC serving as a co-catalysts in the photocatalytic H₂ evolution is still absent. Herein, the recent progress of Mo_xC on photocatalytic H₂ evolution is reviewed. Firstly, the preparation methods including chemical vapor deposition, temperature programming, and organic-inorganic hybridization are detailly summarized. Then, the fundamental structure, electronic properties, and specific conductance of Mo_xC are illustrated to illuminate the advantages of Mo_xC as a co-catalyst for H₂ evolution. Furthermore, the different heterojunctions formed between Mo_xC and other semiconductors for enhancing the photocatalytic performance are emphasized. Finally, perspectives regarding the current challenges and the future research directions on the improvement of catalytic performance of Mo_xC-based photocatalysts are also presented.

Selective hydrogen production from formic acid decomposition over Mo carbides supported on carbon materials

The support influenced the carbide phase obtained so that a higher ratio of defective carbon favoured the formation of β-Mo₂C phase vs. MoO_xC_y. Redox transformations during the reaction might be responsible of the transformation of β-Mo₂C into MoO_xC_y.

Effect of Platinum, Gold, and Potassium Additives on the Surface Chemistry of CdI2-Antitype Mo2C

Transition metal carbides are versatile materials for diverse industrial applications including catalysis, where their relatively low cost is very attractive. In this work, we present a rather extensive density functional theory study on the energetics of adsorption of a selection of atomic and molecular species on two Mo terminations of the CdI₂ antitype phase of Mo₂C. Moreover, the coadsorption of CO in the presence of preadsorbed metal atoms and its dissociative adsorption in the absence and presence of preadsorbed Pt and K were investigated. By using CO as a probe to understand the structural/electronic effects of the preadsorption of the metal atoms on the Mo₂C(001) surface, we showed that K further enhances CO adsorption/activation on the surface, in contrast to the precious metals considered. Moreover, it was observed that the presence of both Pt and K stabilizes the transition state for the C-O bond dissociation, lowering the activation barrier for the dissociation of the C-O bond by about 0.3 and 0.4 eV, respectively.

Oxidation of the hexagonal Mo2C(101) surface by H2O dissociative adsorption

Oxidation of the hexagonal Mo₂C(101) surface by H₂O dissociative adsorption was investigated using periodic density functional theory.

Adsorption and dissociation of H2O on the (001) surface of uranium mononitride: energetics and mechanism from first-principles investigation

The interfacial interaction of uranium mononitride (UN) with water from the environment unavoidably leads to corrosion of nuclear fuels, which affects a lot of processes in the nuclear fuel cycle. In this work, the microscopic adsorption behaviors of water on the UN(001) surface as well as water dissociation and accompanying H2 formation mechanisms have been investigated on the basis of DFT+U calculations and ab initio atomistic thermodynamics. For adsorption of one H2O monomer, the predicted adsorption energies are -0.88, -2.07, and -2.07 eV for the most stable molecular, partially dissociative, and completely dissociative adsorption, respectively. According to our calculations, a water molecule dissociates into OH and H species via three pathways with small energy barriers of 0.78, 0.72, and 0.85 eV, respectively. With the aid of the neighboring H atom, H2 formation through the reaction of H* + OH* can easily occur via two pathways with energy barriers of 0.61 and 0.36 eV, respectively. The molecular adsorption of water shows a slight coverage dependence on the surface while this dependence becomes obvious for partially dissociative adsorption as the water coverage increases from 1/4 to 1 ML. In addition, based on the "ab initio atomistic thermodynamic" simulations, increasing H2O partial pressure will enhance the stability of the adsorbed system and water coverage, while increasing temperature will decrease the H2O coverage. We found that the UN(001) surface reacts easily with H2O at room temperature, leading to dissolution and corrosion of the UN fuel materials.