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Amorphous materials are usually evaluated as photocatalytically inactive due to the amorphous nature-induced self-trapping of tail states, in spite of their achievements in electrochemistry. NiO crystals fail to act as an individual reactor for photocatalytic H2 evolution because of the intrinsic hole doping, regardless of their impressive cocatalytic ability for proton/electron transfer. Here we demonstrate that two-dimensional amorphous NiO nanostructure can act as an efficient and robust photocatalyst for solar H2 evolution without any cocatalysts. Further, the antenna effect of surface plasmon resonance can be introduced to construct an incorporate antenna-reactor structure by increasing the electron doping. The solar H2 evolution rate is improved by a factor of 19.4 through the surface plasmon resonance-mediated charge releasing. These findings thus open a door to applications of two-dimensional amorphous NiO as an advanced photocatalyst.

An in-depth perspective on the role that N heteroatoms in 2D ZnIn2S4 play in improving the photocatalytic properties.

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Codoping of N and O in ultrathin graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) nanosheets leads to an inner electric field. This field restrains the recombination of photogenerated carriers and, thus, enhances hydrogen evolution. The layered structure of codoped g‐C3N4 nanosheets (N‐O‐CNNS) not only provides abundant sites of contact with the reaction medium, but also decreases the distance over which the photogenerated electron–hole pairs are transported to the reaction interface. Quantum confinement in the ultrathin structure results in an increased bandgap and makes the photocatalytic reaction more favorable than bulk g‐C3N4. Under visible light irradiation, N‐O‐CNNS with 3 wt% Pt achieves a hydrogen evolution rate of 9.2 mmol g−1 h−1 and a value of 46.9 mmol g−1 h−1 under AM1.5 with 5 wt% Pt. Thus, this work paves the way for designing efficient nanostructures with increased separation/transfer efficiency of photogenerated carriers and, hence, increased photocatalytic activities.

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Fe2O3has drawn significant attention in photocatalysis due to its natural abundance, thermodynamic stability, environmental compatibility, low toxicity and narrow bandgap.

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