Abstract
Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water has received enormous attention due to its ability to address a number of global environmental and energy-related issues. Here, we synthesize 2D/2D Ti 3 C 2 /g-C 3 N 4 composites by electrostatic self-assembly technique and demonstrate their use as photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation. The optimized Ti 3 C 2 /g-C 3 N 4 composite exhibited a 10 times higher photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance (72.3 μmol h -1 g cat -1 ) than that of pristine g-C 3 N 4 (7.1 μmol h -1 g cat -1 ). Such enhanced photocatalytic performance was due to the formation of 2D/2D heterojunctions in the Ti 3 C 2 /g-C 3 N 4 composites. The intimate contact between the monolayer Ti 3 C 2 and g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets promotes the separation of photogenerated charge carriers at the Ti 3 C 2 /g-C 3 N 4 interface. Furthermore, the ultrahigh conductivity of Ti 3 C 2 and the Schottky junction formed between g-C 3 N 4 /MXene interfaces facilitate the photoinduced electron transfer and suppress the recombination with photogenerated holes. This work demonstrates that the 2D/2D Ti 3 C 2 /g-C 3 N 4 composites are promising photocatalysts thanks to the ultrathin MXenes as efficient co-catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen production.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 8138-8149 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Nanoscale |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 17 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 7 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This research was supported and conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. TMS acknowledges the support from China Scholarship Council. ZDH gratefully acknowledges a Graduate Research Fellowship award from the National Science Foundation (DGE-1650044). LB acknowledges financial support from National Science Foundation supplemental intern funding 1511818.