Copper containing 3D polyaniline/phytic acid hydrogels for photocatalytic hydrogen production

作者:Pan, Xueling; Wu, Sheng; Wang, Tingting*; Histand, Gary; Li, Yingwei*
来源:Journal of Materials Science, 2022, 57(27): 12836-12847.
DOI:10.1007/s10853-022-07424-0

摘要

A Cu-PP hydrogel with 3D network was synthesized using a simple in-situ polymerization method. PA (phytic acid) acts as the dopants and crosslinking agent to form PANI-PA (polyaniline-phytic acid) hydrogel via in-situ polymerization of aniline. PA is also used as a chelating agent to coordinate with Cu2+ ion due to the high coordination capacity. When irradiated by light, Cu2+ was slowly reduced to form Cu NPs, distributing uniformly in the 3D matrix of PANI-PA. The 3D network nanostructure ensures a complete contact between the photocatalyst and water, promoting the separation of electrons and holes. The introduction of PANI-PA improves the separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs, where PANI-PA acts as a hole reservoir to trap the holes generated by Cu NPs, hindering the recombination of electron-hole pairs. The Cu-0.2-PP hydrogel with a copper content of 30.8% exhibits the best hydrogen production rate (6.09 mmol.g(-1).h(-1)), which is 6.7 times greater than that of pure Cu NPs.