Synergistic effect of 2D Ti₂C and g-C₃N₄ for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

The novel photocatalyst Ti2C/g-C3N4 exhibits substantially enhanced water splitting activities due to its improved light absorbance, efficient separation of photoinduced carriers and large surface area.

One‐Step Synthesis of Nb2O5/C/Nb2C (MXene) Composites and Their Use as Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution

“…Furthermore, protons in the aqueous solution are efficiently reduced to evolve H 2 by the photoinduced electrons on Nb 2 C thanks to its excellent capability for HER. This mechanism is in accordance with previous work on other MXene materials . Apart from Nb 2 O 5 , Nb 2 C is also a good co‐catalyst for TiO 2 according to our previous study …”

“…The excellent electronic conductivity of MXenes allows for easier charge‐carrier transfer from the semiconductor to the MXene, and a Schottky barrier will be formed at the semiconductor/MXene interface, which will improve the separation efficiency of electrons–holes . In addition, charge accumulation in MXenes can cause a negative shift and alignment of the Fermi level and improve photocatalytic hydrogen evolution . More importantly, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of a photocatalyst is related to the Gibbs free energy for hydrogen adsorption (Δ G H ), and the most desirable value of Δ G H to obtain the highest HER performance should be close to zero.…”

“…[26,27] In addition, chargea ccumulation in MXenes can cause an egative shift and alignment of the Fermi level and improve photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. [28] More importantly,t he hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of ap hotocatalyst is relatedt ot he Gibbs free energy for hydrogen adsorption(DG H ), andthe most desirable value of DG H to obtain the highest HER performance should be close to zero. Interestingly,M Xenes with appropriate surfacet erminations, such as hydrogenated W 2 C, oxidized Mo 2 C, [29] O-terminatedT i 3 C 2 , [27] and O-terminated Nb 2 Ca nd Ti 2 C, show near-zero DG H .…”

WXy/g‐C3N4 (WXy=W2C, WS2, or W2N) Composites for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Water Splitting

“…[35][36][37] W 2 C, WS 2 ,a nd W 2 Nw ere synthesized throughas imilar processes to avoid the variables originating from different preparation methods. [35][36][37] W 2 C, WS 2 ,a nd W 2 Nw ere synthesized throughas imilar processes to avoid the variables originating from different preparation methods.…”

Balanced Ambipolar Poly(diketopyrrolopyrrole‐alt‐tetrafluorobenzene) Semiconducting Polymers Synthesized via Direct Arylation Polymerization

“…However, both of these two methods suffer from the tedious activation of CH bonds using organometallic reagents (e.g., BuLi) and low stability of organometallic monomers as well as the formation of toxic byproducts (e.g., alkyl tin derivatives). To overcome these synthetic issues existing in conventional Suzuki and Stille couplings, direct arylation polymerization (DAP) by directly activating CH bonds with palladium catalyst has emerged as a new type of cross‐coupling reaction for synthesis of a variety of π‐conjugated polymers . DAP shows several advantages over conventional cross‐couplings, such as a wider selection of monomers due to non‐need of preactivating monomers with flammable organometallic reagents, fewer reaction steps, and minimal formation of toxic byproducts …”