Fabrication of Ni2P Cocatalyzed CdS Nanorods with a Well-Defined Heterointerface for Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Evolution

Synchrotron Radiation Based X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy: Fundamentals and Applications in Photocatalysis

Photocatalysis is one of the most promising green technologies to utilize solar energy for clean energy achievement and environmental governance. There is a knotty problem to rational designing high-performance photocatalyst, which largely depends on an in-depth insight into their structure-activity relationships and complex photocatalytic reaction mechanisms. Synchrotron radiation based X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is an important characterization method for photocatlayst to offer the element-specific key geometric and electronic structural information at the atomic level, on this basis, time-resolved XAS technique has a huge impact on mechanistic understanding of photochemical reaction owing to their powerful ability to probe, in real-time, the electronic and geometric structures evolution within photocatalysis reactions. This review will focus on the fundamentals of XAS and their applications in photocatalysis. The detailed applications obtained from XAS is described through the following aspects: 1) identifying local structure of photocatalyst; 2) uncovering in situ structure and chemical state evolution during photocatalysis; 3) revealing the photoexcited process. We will provide an in depth understanding on how the XAS method can guide the rational design of highly efficient photocatalyst. Finally, a systematic summary of XAS and related significance is made and the research perspectives are suggested.

NiFe2O4 Material on Carbon Paper as an Electrocatalyst for Alkaline Water Electrolysis Module

NiFe2O4 material is grown on carbon paper (CP) with the hydrothermal method for use as electrocatalysts in an alkaline electrolyzer. NiFe2O4 material is used as the anode and cathode catalysts (named NiFe(+)/NiFe(-) hereafter). The results are compared with those obtained using CP/NiFe as the anode and CP/Ru as the cathode (named NiFe)(+)/Ru(-) hereafter). During cell operation with NiFe(+)/Ru(-), the current density reaches 500 mA/cm2 at a cell voltage of 1.79 V, with a specific energy consumption of 4.9 kWh/m3 and an energy efficiency of 66.2%. In comparison, for NiFe(+)/NiFe(-), the current density reaches 500 mA/cm2 at a cell voltage of 2.23 V, with a specific energy consumption of 5.7 kWh/m3 and an energy efficiency of 56.6%. The Faradaic efficiency is 96-99%. With the current density fixed at 400 mA/cm2, after performing a test for 150 h, the cell voltage with NiFe(+)/Ru(-) increases by 0.167 V, whereas that with NiFe(+)/NiFe(-) decreases by only 0.010 V. Good, long-term stability is demonstrated.

Simultaneous Photocatalytic Sugar Conversion and Hydrogen Production Using Pd Nanoparticles Decorated on Iron-Doped Hydroxyapatite

Pd nanoparticles (PdNPs) were successfully deposited on the surface of Fe(III)-modified hydroxyapatite (HAp), which was subsequently used as a photocatalyst for simultaneous photocatalytic H2 evolution and xylose conversion. The structural phase and morphology of the pristine HAp, FeHAp, and Pd@FeHAp were examined using XRD, SEM, and TEM instruments. At 20 °C, Pd@FeHAp provided a greater xylose conversion than pristine HAp and FeHAp, about 2.15 times and 1.41 times, respectively. In addition, lactic acid and formic acid production was increased by using Pd@FeHAp. The optimal condition was further investigated using Pd@FeHAp, which demonstrated around 70% xylose conversion within 60 min at 30 °C. Moreover, only Pd@FeHAp produced H2 under light irradiation. To clarify the impact of Fe(III) doping in FeHAp and heterojunction between PdNPs and FeHAp in the composite relative to pure Hap, the optical and physicochemical properties of Pd@FeHAp samples were analyzed, which revealed the extraordinary ability of the material to separate and transport photogenerated electron-hole pairs, as demonstrated by a substantial reduction in photoluminescence intensity when compared to Hp and FeHAp. In addition, a decrease in electron trap density in the Pd@FeHAp composite using reversed double-beam photoacoustic spectroscopy was attributed to the higher photocatalytic activity rate. Furthermore, the development of new electronic levels by the addition of Fe(III) to the structure of HAp in FeHAp may improve the ability to absorb light by lessening the energy band gap. The photocatalytic performance of the Pd@FeHAp composite was improved by lowering charge recombination and narrowing the energy band gap. As a result, a newly developed Pd@FeHAp composite might be employed as a photocatalyst to generate both alternative H2 energy and high-value chemicals.

One Stone Two Birds: Utilization of Solar Light for Simultaneous Selective Phenylcarbinol Oxidation and H2 Production over 0D/2D-3D Pt/In2S3 Schottky Junction

Precise regulation and control solar-light-driven charges photoexcited on photocatalysts for separation-transfer and target redox reactions is an attractive and challenging pathway toward sustainability. Herein, 0D/2D-3D Pt/In2S3 Schottky junction was fabricated for simultaneous selective phenylcarbinol conversion into value-added aldehydes and production of clean energy H2 by directly utilizing photoexcited holes and electrons in one reaction system under mild reaction conditions. In contrast to pure water splitting and pure In2S3, the reaction thermodynamics and kinetics of H2 evolution on the Pt/In2S3 were significantly enhanced. The optimized 0.3% Pt/In2S3 exhibited the highest and most stable photocatalytic activity with 22.1 mmol g−1 h−1 of H2 production rate and almost 100% selectivity of benzaldehyde production. Notably, this dual-function photocatalysis also exhibited superiority in contrast to sacrificial-agent H2 evolution reactions such as lactic acid, Na2S, methanol and triethanolamine. The turnover frequency (TOF) could reach up to ~2394 h−1. The Pt clusters anchored at the electron location and strong metal-support interactions (SMSI) between Pt and In2S3 synergistically improved the spatial charge separation and directional transportation (~90.1% of the charge transport efficiency could be achieved over the Pt/In2S3 hybrid), and thus result in significant enhancement of photocatalytic H2 evolution with simultaneous benzaldehyde production.

Composition-dependent activity of Mn-doping NiS2 nanosheets for boosting photocatalytic H2 evolution

Two-dimensional transition metal disulfides are excellent photocatalytic materials, which can be significantly improved by optimizing the composition and structure. Herein, Mn-doping NiS2 of (Ni1-xMnx)-S with various Ni/Mn molar ratios is proposed via a facile and low-cost solvothermal method. The optimal (Ni4/6Mn2/6)-S exhibits pinecone-like morphology composed of tiny nanosheets with enlarged active sites, which facilitates the separation of photoinduced electrons and holes, improves the electron transfer ability and conductivity, and enlarges the active sites compared with pure NiS2 and MnS. Also, the negative shift of the conduction band derived from Mott-Schottky plots and the empirical formula provides a high thermodynamic driving force for hydrogen catalytic reaction. (Ni4/6Mn2/6)-S performs an ultrahigh hydrogen evolution rate of 24.86 mmol g-1 h-1 under UV-visible light irradiation, which is 1.5 times higher than pure NiS2 (16.92 mmol g-1 h-1) and 2.3 times higher than pure MnS (10.69 mmol g-1 h-1). The outstanding repeatability of 86.7% retention and apparent quantum yield of 46.9% are also achieved. Therefore, this work offers a novel bimetallic sulfide of (Ni1-xMnx)-S to improve the conversion efficiency of solar energy to chemical energy for photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Heterojunction Design between WSe2 Nanosheets and TiO2 for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

Design and fabrication of efficient and stable photocatalysts are critically required for practical applications of solar water splitting. Herein, a series of WSe2/TiO2 nanocomposites were constructed through a facile mechanical grinding method, and all of the nanocomposites exhibited boosted photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. It was discovered that the enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the efficient electron transfer from TiO2 to WSe2 and the abundant active sites provided by WSe2 nanosheets. Moreover, the intimate heterojunction between WSe2 nanosheets and TiO2 favors the interfacial charge separation. As a result, a highest hydrogen evolution rate of 2.28 mmol/g·h, 114 times higher than pristine TiO2, was obtained when the weight ratio of WSe2/(WSe2 + TiO2) was adjusted to be 20%. The designed WSe2/TiO2 heterojunctions can be regarded as a promising photocatalysts for high-throughput hydrogen production.

Synthesis of Durian-like TiO2@CdS Core-Shell Structure and Study on H2 Generation Properties

Novel durian-like TiO2@CdS core-shell particles were synthesized through a solvothermal method in ethylenediamine solution and the obtained nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) techniques. It can be seen from the characterization that the synthesized core-shell structured particles show uniform size. The possible formation mechanism of TiO2@CdS core-shell particles is also presented schematically. CdS grows on the TiO2 surface in the form of nanorods, turning the TiO2@CdS composite particles into durian-like structures. The durian-like TiO2@CdS core-shell particles prepared in the experiment can overcome the disadvantages of TiO2 and CdS, respectively. They not only produce a higher yield of H2 than pure TiO2; the durian-like TiO2@CdS nanostructures formed at 180 °C for 16 h produced 2.5 times as much H2 as did TiO2, also showing enhanced stability as compared with pure CdS.

Fabrication of WS2/WSe2 Z-Scheme Nano-Heterostructure for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production and Removal of Congo Red under Visible Light

In this study, a novel tungsten disulfide/tungsten diselenide (WS2/WSe2) heterojunction photocatalyst by a facile hydrothermal process with great capable photocatalytic efficiency for hydrogen evolution from water and organic compound removal was discussed. The WS2/WSe2 heterojunction photocatalyst to form heterojunctions to inhibit the quick recombination rate of photo-response holes and electrons is reflected to be a useful method to enhance the capability of photocatalysis hydrogen production. The hydrogen production rate of the WS2/WSe2 photocatalyst approach is 3856.7 μmol/g/h, which is 12 and 11 folds the efficiency of bare WS2 and WSe2, respectively. Moreover, the excellent photocatalytic performance for Congo Red (CR) removal (92.4%) was 2.4 and 2.1 times higher than those of bare WS2 and WSe2, respectively. The great photocatalytic efficiency was owing to the capable electrons and holes separation of WS2/WSe2 and the construction of Z-scheme heterostructure, which possessed vigorous photocatalytic oxidation and reduction potentials. The novel one-dimensional structure of WS2/WSe2 heterojunction shortens the transport pathway of photo-induced electrons and holes. This work provided an insight to the pathway of interfacial separation and transferring for induced charge carriers, which can refer to the interfacial engineering of developed nanocomposite photocatalysts. It possessed great capable photocatalytic efficiency of hydrogen production and organic dye removal. This study offers an insight to the route of interfacial migration and separation for induced charge carriers to generating clean hydrogen energy and solve environmental pollution issue.