Chinese Journal of Catalysis

Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2022, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (4): 1165-1175.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(21)63997-9

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Simultaneous hydrogen production with the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde by a noble-metal-free photocatalyst VC/CdS nanowires

Muhammad Tayyaba, Yujie Liua, Shixiong Mind, Rana Muhammad Irfane, Qiaohong Zhua, Liang Zhoub,c,*(), Juying Leib,c, Jinlong Zhanga,#()   

  1. aKey Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Multi-media Environmental Catalysis and Resource Utilization, Joint International Research Laboratory of Precision Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science & Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
    bNational Engineering Laboratory for Industrial Wastewater Treatment, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
    cState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
    dSchool of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China
    eCollege of Energy, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials Innovations (SIEMIS), Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, Jiangsu, China
  • Received:2021-10-08 Accepted:2021-10-08 Online:2022-03-05 Published:2021-12-31
  • Contact: Liang Zhou, Jinlong Zhang
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(22006038);National Natural Science Foundation of China(21972040);Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities(B20031);Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission(2021-01-07-00-02-E00106);Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(20DZ2250400);China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2020M681209);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

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Abstract:

In this work we used CdS NWs (nanowires) with vanadium carbide (VC) attached via facile electrostatic self-assembly and calcination method. The results showed that compared to pristine CdS NWs, the photocatalytic activity of CdS NWs loaded with the particular amount of VC was dramatically enhanced. Among them, the VC/CS-15 indicated the highest enhancement for simultaneous production of H2 with selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BO) into benzaldehyde (BD). The highest hydrogen evolution rate of 20.5 mmol g-1h-1was obtained with more than 99% selectivity for BD production under visible light (λ ˃ 420 nm) irradiation for 2 h, which was almost 661 times higher than the pristine CdS NWs. This enhancement of photocatalytic activity is due to the VC, which provides a favorable attraction for BO by lowering the zeta potential, along with the active site for hydrogen production, and retard the recombination of electron-hole pairs by increasing the conductivity of the photocatalyst. Moreover, the apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of VC/CS-15 for BD and H2 production at monochromatic 420 nm is about 7.5%. At the end of the hydrogen evolution test, the selective oxidation with more than 99% selectivity was obtained. It hopes this work will prove its future significance and move scientific community toward a more economical way for achieving the commercialization of H2 by photocatalysis.

Key words: Hydrogen production, Selective oxidation, Benzaldehyde, Noble-metal-free, Visible light