Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2019, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (2): 160-167.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(19)63283-3

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Integrating non-precious-metal cocatalyst Ni3N with g-C3N4 for enhanced photocatalytic H2 production in water under visible-light irradiation

Jianhua Gea,b, Yujie Liua, Daochuan Jiangb, Lei Zhangb, Pingwu Dub   

  1. a School of Earth and Environment, Anhui University of Science & Technology, Huainan 232001, Anhui, China;
    b 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, China
  • Received:2018-10-09 Revised:2018-12-14 Online:2019-02-28 Published:2019-01-11
  • Contact: S1872-2067(19)63283-3
  • Supported by:

    This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFA0402800), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51772285, 21473170, 51878004), the Natural Science Fund of of Anhui Province(1808085ME139), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

Abstract:

Photocatalytic H2 production via water splitting in a noble-metal-free photocatalytic system has attracted much attention in recent years. In this study, noble-metal-free Ni3N was used as an active cocatalyst to enhance the activity of g-C3N4 for photocatalytic H2 production under visible-light irradiation (λ > 420 nm). The characterization results indicated that Ni3N nanoparticles were successfully loaded onto the g-C3N4, which accelerated the separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons and resulted in enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution under visible-light irradiation. The hydrogen evolution rate reached~305.4 μmol h-1 g-1, which is about three times higher than that of pristine g-C3N4, and the apparent quantum yield (AQY) was~0.45% at λ=420. Furthermore, the Ni3N/g-C3N4 photocatalyst showed no obvious decrease in the hydrogen production rate, even after five cycles under visible-light irradiation. Finally, a possible photocatalytic hydrogen evolution mechanism for the Ni3N/g-C3N4 system is proposed.

Key words: Photocatalysis, Ni3N, Cocatalyst, Hydrogen evolution, g-C3N4