Issue 1, 2023

Metallic plasmons significantly boosted visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting

Abstract

Under visible-light irradiation, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is considered a favorable photocatalyst for hydrogen (H2) production from water splitting. However, the poor H2 production and fast recombination rate of charge carriers prevent its practical applications. Therefore, the integration of g-C3H4 with suitable plasmonic materials to develop a nanocomposite photocatalyst is worthwhile for enhancing H2 evolution. Herein, a highly efficient g-C3N4/Ni@N-doped C (termed as CN/Ni@C) plasmonic photocatalyst is developed by the combination of g-C3N4 and nickel supported on nitrogen-doped carbon (Ni@C) for H2 production from water splitting. The results show that photocatalytic performance is enhanced by Ni metallic plasmons over the CN/Ni@C nanocomposite. The optimized CN/Ni@C-1 (1 wt% Ni@C loading) plasmonic heterojunction achieves an efficient H2 evolution rate of 56.67 μmol h−1, which is 4-fold higher than that of bare g-C3N4 (13.55 μmol h−1) with an apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 5.20% under visible-light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm). This improved performance is associated with the efficient charge separation, charge transfer, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of metallic Ni nanoparticles. Additionally, the optimal CN/Ni@C-1 plasmonic heterojunction exhibits excellent photocatalytic stability toward H2 generation. We believe that this study will open the door to constructing and developing other plasmonic material decorated g-C3N4 photocatalysts for potential applications in sustainable and renewable energy.

Graphical abstract: Metallic plasmons significantly boosted visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Nov 2022
Accepted
13 Nov 2022
First published
17 Nov 2022

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2023,7, 263-269

Metallic plasmons significantly boosted visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting

I. Ullah, C. Ling, J. Li, X. Lu, C. Li, Z. Yang, X. Qian, G. Wang and A. Xu, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2023, 7, 263 DOI: 10.1039/D2SE01523D

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