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Embedding Noble-Metal-Free Ni2P Cocatalyst on g-C3N4 for Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Evolution in Water Under Visible Light

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Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is considered as one of the promising pathways to settle the energy crises and environmental issues by utilizing solar energy. In this paper, noble-metal-free Ni2P was used as cocatalyst to enhance g-C3N4 for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm). Characterization results indicated that Ni2P nanoparticles were successfully loaded onto g-C3N4, which can significantly contribute to accelerate the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron. The hydrogen evolution rate reached ∼ 270 µmol h−1 g−1 and the apparent quantum yield (AQY) was ∼ 2.85% at 420 nm. Meanwhile, there is no obviously decrease of the hydrogen production rate even after 36 h under visible light illumination. In addition, the mechanism of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution was also elaborated in detail.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the NSFC (21473170), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WK3430000001, WK2060140015, and WK2060190026), Natural science Fund of of Anhui province (1808085ME139), and The Thousand Young Talents Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, 230026, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Jianhua Ge, Daochuan Jiang, Lei Zhang & Pingwu Du

  2. School of Earth Science and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University of Science & Technology, Huainan, 232001, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Jianhua Ge

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  1. Jianhua Ge
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  2. Daochuan Jiang
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Correspondence to Jianhua Ge or Pingwu Du.

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Ge, J., Jiang, D., Zhang, L. et al. Embedding Noble-Metal-Free Ni2P Cocatalyst on g-C3N4 for Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Evolution in Water Under Visible Light. Catal Lett 148, 3741–3749 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-018-2562-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-018-2562-6

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