Atomically Dispersed Single Co Sites in Zeolitic Imidazole Frameworks Promoting High‐Efficiency Visible‐Light‐Driven Hydrogen Production

Abstract

As photocatalysis technology could transform renewable and clean solar energy into green hydrogen (H2) energy through solar water splitting, it is regarded as the “Holy Grail” in chemistry field in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the bottleneck of this technique still lies in the exploration of highly active, cost‐effective, and robust photocatalysts. This work reports the design and synthesis of a novel zeolitic imidazole framework (ZIF) coupled Zn0.8Cd0.2S hetero‐structured photocatalyst for high‐performance visible‐light‐induced H2 production. State‐of‐the‐art characterizations and theoretical computations disclose that the interfacial electronic interaction between ZIF and Zn0.8Cd0.2S, the high distribution of Zn0.8Cd0.2S on ZIF, and the atomically dispersed coordinately unsaturated Co sites in ZIF synergistically arouse the significantly improved visible‐light photocatalytic H2 production performance.

A Codoped Polymeric Photocatalyst with Prolonged Carrier Lifetime and Extended Spectral Response up to 600 nm for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution

“…Namely, Na + is doped in the triangular cavities (side length 738 pm). The high density of homogeneous cavities in g-C 3 N 4 is known to serve as perfect accommodation sites for single metal atoms and alkali metal ions. ,, According to the integrated area of each element in the spectra, the doped percentages of P and Na are 2.88 atom % and 6.47 atom %, respectively. No evidence of S element is detected in the S 2p spectrum, indicating all S atoms in CNS are substituted by P at 300 °C.…”

Single-Atom Photocatalysts for Emerging Reactions

“…Solar energy has exhibited great potential as a promising alternative to substituting the traditional energy sources because it is clean, renewable, abundant, affordable, and everlasting. , Due to the unpredictable nature of weather, it is challenging to make use of solar light under poor weather conditions and/or at night; therefore, it is necessary to transform solar energy into new forms of energy that are storage-stable. Up to date, solar energy has been extensively utilized to produce storable and transportable fuels with high energy capacity as well as value-added chemicals. − Among various solar energy conversion techniques, photocatalysis is deemed as a promising, environmentally benign, and cost-effective strategy to generate both fuels and high-value chemicals. − During the past decades, numerous studies have been focused on several well-known reactions (e.g., H 2 production, − N 2 fixation − and CO 2 conversion − ) achieved via photocatalysis. Recently, a range of emerging photocatalytic reactions generating fuels and/or valuable chemicals has been attracting increasing attention. − These emerging reactions can be categorized into three different types, i.e., reduction reactions, oxidation reactions, and redox reactions, based on their specific photocatalytic reaction mechanisms.…”

Atomic-Level Insights into the Edge Active ReS2 Ultrathin Nanosheets for High-Efficiency Light-to-Hydrogen Conversion

“…The effective conversion of solar energy into environmentally benign and carbon-free hydrogen (H 2 ) fuel is deemed as a promising strategy to resolve the worldwide energy and environmental issues. − In particular, semiconductor based photocatalytic H 2 production has garnered tremendous attention as a green, low-cost, and environmentally friendly technique for sunlight driven H 2 production. − Therefore, it is of great significance to develop high efficiency, durable, and inexpensive photocatalysts for industrial-scale solar-to-H 2 conversion. Recently, photocatalysts with atomic-level reactive sites have demonstrated outstanding photocatalytic activities and stabilities towards H 2 production. − Hence, the atomic-level understanding of the structure/composition-performance relationship in the photocatalyst is highly promising to advance the development of a new generation of high-performance photocatalysts.…”