1D metallic MoO2-C as co-catalyst on 2D g-C3N4 semiconductor to promote photocatlaytic hydrogen production

Abstract

The surface carrier density and hydrogen activation ability are crucial in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which can be improved by introducing noble-metal co-catalyst such as Pt into the system. However, the noble-metals suffer from high cost in terms of upscaling, thereby the exploration of low-cost HER co-catalysts is highly demanded. In this work, we report that one-dimensional (1D) metallic MoO2-C nanowire clusters can serve as a co-catalyst in assisting the photocatalytic hydrogen production over 2D g-C3N4. The multiple merits of MoO2-C are demonstrated: (i) noble-metal-free; (ii) highly effective transfer ability of the photogenerated electrons; (iii) high-density adsorption and active sites for hydrogen evolution. As demonstrated in photocatalytic hydrogen production, MoO2-C/2D g-C3N4 exhibits significant enhancement in comparison with pure 2D g-C3N4 semiconductor. The optimal hydrogen evolution rate achieving 1071.0 μmol g−1 h−1, almost 157.5 times higher than that of pure 2D g-C3N4.