Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production by organic–inorganic heterojunction structure in Chl@Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx

Yuanlin Li; Yanxiang Liu; Tianfang Zheng; Aijun Li; Georgiy G. Levchenko; Wei Han; Aleksey V. Pashchenko; Shin-ichi Sasaki; Hitoshi Tamiaki; Xiao-Feng Wang

doi:10.1039/D3GC04127A

Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production by organic–inorganic heterojunction structure in Chl@Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x†

Yuanlin Li,^a Yanxiang Liu,^a Tianfang Zheng,^a Aijun Li,^a Georgiy G. Levchenko,

^a Wei Han,

*^b Aleksey V. Pashchenko,^c Shin-ichi Sasaki,

^de Hitoshi Tamiaki

^d and Xiao-Feng Wang

*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Key Laboratory of Physics and Technology for Advanced Batteries (Ministry of Education) & State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China
E-mail: xf_wang@jlu.edu.cn

^b College of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, International Center of Future Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China
E-mail: whan@jlu.edu.cn

^c Donetsk Institute for Physics and Engineering named after O.O. Galkin, NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv 03028, Ukraine

^d Graduate School of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, Japan

^e Department of Medical Bioscience, Faculty of Bioscience, Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Nagahama, Shiga 526-0829, Japan

Abstract

The idea of exploiting the inexhaustible solar energy-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) to generate hydrogen energy, a sustainable clean energy source, to solve problems such as fossil fuel-induced greenhouse gas emissions is believed to be a feasible strategy. However, photocatalytic HER is inefficient due to insufficient light trapping capability and low charge separation efficiency of the single semiconductor material employed. Therefore, it remains a great challenge to achieve fast and efficient photocatalytic HER. In this work, a novel ternary Chl@Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x photocatalyst with an organic–inorganic heterojunction structure has been designed by employing a stepwise deposition process for efficient solar energy conversion to hydrogen. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of Chl@Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x organic–inorganic heterojunction photocatalysts for HER was significantly improved compared with that of single Chl@Ti₃C₂T_x and Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x. The improvement of the photocatalytic performance of Chl@Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x compared to Chl@Ti₃C₂T_x and Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x is attributed to the construction of the Chl–Cu₂O organic–inorganic heterojunction structure in Chl@Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x, which extends the absorption range of the spectra and dramatically enhances the separation efficiency of the photogenerated carriers in Chl@Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x composites.

Green Chemistry

Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production by organic–inorganic heterojunction structure in Chl@Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x†

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Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production by organic–inorganic heterojunction structure in Chl@Cu₂O/Ti₃C₂T_x

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