An Elemental Phosphorus Photocatalyst with a Record High Hydrogen Evolution Efficiency

Abstract

Semiconductive property of elementary substance is an interesting and attractive phenomenon. We obtain a breakthrough that fibrous phase red phosphorus, a recent discovered modification of red phosphorus by Ruck et al., can work as a semiconductor photocatalyst for visible-light-driven hydrogen (H2 ) evolution. Small sized fibrous phosphorus is obtained by 1) loading it on photoinactive SiO2 fibers or by 2) smashing it ultrasonically. They display the steady hydrogen evolution rates of 633 μmol h(-1) g(-1) and 684 μmol h(-1) g(-1) , respectively. These values are much higher than previous amorphous P (0.6 μmol h(-1) g(-1) ) and Hittorf P (1.6 μmol h(-1) g(-1) ). Moreover, they are the highest records in the family of elemental photocatalysts to date. This discovery is helpful for further understanding the semiconductive property of elementary substance. It is also favorable for the development of elemental photocatalysts.

Unprecedented Eighteen‐Faceted BiOCl with a Ternary Facet Junction Boosting Cascade Charge Flow and Photo‐redox

“…[24] In contrast to BiOCl-10 with weak SPV response,BiOCl-100 shows very strong SPV signal around 340 nm (Figure 2c), indicating the concentration of charge carriers in eighteenfaceted BiOCl is much higher than that in BiOCl square plates. [27] Based on above results,itisconcluded that both the charge separation and migration efficiencies of BiOCl are substantially promoted by fabrication of eighteen-facets,which contributes to the enhanced photo-redox performance. [26] Quantitatively,t he h trans was determined to be 94.02 %a nd 51.19 %f or BiOCl-100 and BiOCl-10, respectively,w ith adding the rapid electrons scavenger MVCl 2 (Figure 2d, Figure S16).…”

Light‐Activated Rapid Disinfection by Accelerated Charge Transfer in Red Phosphorus/ZnO Heterointerface

“…As shown in Figure E,E1, high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images of the RP film display the morphology of the nanosheet, clearly showing parallel lattice fringes of (001) facets with a d‐spacing of 5.81 Å, which is consistent with typical fibrous P . Furthermore, the Raman spectra (Figure S3, Supporting Information) between 300 and 500 cm −1 of amorphous RP and Ti‐RP further confirm the successful growth of RP on Ti, as Ti‐RP exhibits the peaks of fibrous RP . As shown in the inset of Figure E and in Table S1 (Supporting Information), fibrous RP is a layered structure that consists of [P21] polyphosphide tubes as the basic building units, with zigzag shaped double chains that form a corrugated ladder .…”

“…Phosphorus has a high earth‐abundance of ≈100 billion tons . Elemental phosphorus has three allotropes, white, black, and red P, among which red phosphorus (RP), both amorphous and crystalline, has been applied for photocatalytic H 2 evolution and water splitting under visible light . More importantly, RP is nontoxic, relatively stable, economical, and environmentally friendly .…”

“…Elemental phosphorus has three allotropes, white, black, and red P, among which red phosphorus (RP), both amorphous and crystalline, has been applied for photocatalytic H 2 evolution and water splitting under visible light . More importantly, RP is nontoxic, relatively stable, economical, and environmentally friendly . Fibrous RP is a direct bandgap semiconductor with a bandgap of ≈1.5 eV and shows high absorption over the solar spectrum, consequently displaying great potential for light‐driven bacterial inactivation.…”

“…More importantly, RP is nontoxic, relatively stable, economical, and environmentally friendly . Fibrous RP is a direct bandgap semiconductor with a bandgap of ≈1.5 eV and shows high absorption over the solar spectrum, consequently displaying great potential for light‐driven bacterial inactivation.…”