Interfacial TiN bonding of a g-C3N4/TiH1.92 type-II heterojunction photocatalyst significantly enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting

作者：Tahir, Warisha; Cheang, Tuck-Yun; Li, Jing-Han; Ling, Cong; Lu, Xiao-Jie; Ullah, Ikram; Wang, Gang^*; Xu, An-Wu^*

来源：Catalysis Science & Technology, 2022, 12(6): 2023-2029.

DOI：10.1039/d1cy02039k

• GRAPHITIC CARBON NITRIDE
• G-C3N4
• PERFORMANCE
• FABRICATION
• COMPOSITE
• H-2
• TIH2
• FE

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), an excellent metal-free photocatalyst, is a promising candidate for overall water splitting under visible light illumination. However, some drawbacks of g-C3N4, such as poor separation and transfer efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers, restrain its photocatalytic applications. Efficient photocatalytic water splitting could be achieved by combining g-C3N4 with well suited divergent semiconductors to form a type-II heterojunction system. Herein, we fabricate a highly efficient type-II heterojunction system based on exfoliated titanium hydride (TiH1.92) nanoparticles (NPs) and g-C3N4 nanosheets for photocatalytic water splitting. Through Ti N bonding at the interface between g-C3N4 and TiH1.92 NPs, g-C3N4 nanosheets can be coupled with TiH1.92 NPs. Owing to their specific type-II heterostructures, strong interfacial interaction and band alignment, an efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 75.55 mu mol h(-1) is obtained, which is 4.29-fold higher than that of bare g-C3N4. The developed g-C3N4/TiH1.92 type-II heterostructures exhibit a quantum efficiency of 6.78% at lambda = 420 nm. In general, this study further provides a creative route to design and develop other novel type-II heterostructured photocatalysts for efficient H-2 evolution under visible light illumination.

• 单位
  1; 广东药学院