Few‐Layer Fullerene Network for Photocatalytic Pure Water Splitting into H₂ and H₂O₂

Abstract

A few‐layer fullerene network possesses several advantageous characteristics, including a large surface area, abundant active sites, high charge mobility, and an appropriate bandgap and band edge for solar water splitting. Herein, we report for the first time that the few‐layer fullerene network shows interesting photocatalytic performance in pure water splitting into H2 and H2O2 in the absence of any sacrificial reagents. Under optimal conditions, the H2 and H2O2 evolution rates can reach 91 and 116 µmol g‐1 h‐1, respectively, with good stability. This work demonstrates the novel application of the few‐layer fullerene network in the field of energy conversion.

Recent advances in supramolecular fullerene chemistry

“…Recently, Du and coworkers explored the photocatalytic water splitting properties of a few-layer C 60 network, which furnished production rates of H 2 and H 2 O 2 of 91 and 116 μmol g −1 h −1 , respectively. 426 Collectively, these recent breakthroughs offer new opportunities for exploring the fundamental properties, supramolecular properties and potential applications of covalently bonded 2D carbon materials.…”

Boosting Photocatalytic Water Splitting of Polymeric C60 by Reduced Dimensionality from Two-Dimensional Monolayer to One-Dimensional Chain

“…The band structures are calculated using the unscreened hybrid functional, in which the Hartree–Fock and PBEsol exchange energies are mixed in a 1:3 ratio along with the full PBEsol correlation energy, − because it provides better descriptions of the measured electronic and optical band gaps − (for details, see the band gaps obtained at different levels of theory in the Supporting Information). Following this, the transport properties are calculated by utilizing the hybrid-functional eigenenergies and eigenstates in k -meshes of 10 × 1 × 1 and 8 × 8 × 1 for 1D and 2D C 60 , respectively, with an interpolation factor of 100.…”

“…In photocatalytic water splitting, water is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen using light, which can produce hydrogen as a green energy alternative to fossil fuels. − Recently synthesized two-dimensional (2D) fullerene networks , hold great promise for such applications owing to the benefits of (1) a suitable band gap to generate a large amount of electron–hole pairs, (2) a high carrier mobility for separating electrons and holes, and (3) appropriate band edges for thermodynamically driving the hydrogen evolution reaction with the help of photoexcited electrons, and the computational predictions based on such microscopic mechanisms have been recently confirmed experimentally . Among the different structural phases of polymeric C 60 monolayers, the quasi-one-dimensional quasitetragonal phase (qTP1) and the tightly bound quasitetragonal phase (qTP2) have enhanced photocatalytic water splitting performance compared to that of the quasihexagonal phase (qHP).…”

Simulation on Stress-Related Anisotropy of qTP C60 and qHP C60: Implications for Optoelectronic Nanodevices

“…At the same time, another group of researchers synthesized low-level C 60 networks. It is found that the network can cleave water to H 2 and H 2 O 2 under visible light irradiation, showing stable photocatalytic activity . It opens up a new path for catalytic application.…”

“…17 light irradiation, showing stable photocatalytic activity. 18 It opens up a new path for catalytic application.…”