Vermiculite as a natural silicate crystal for hydrogen generation from photocatalytic splitting of water under visible light

Abstract

Vermiculite with the typical composition of (Mg,Fe,Al)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2·4H2O, which is both a type of low cost silicate clay mineral and a high quality natural nanosized material showing paper-like morphology, has wide ranging industrial applications. Herein, we have successfully used this material to effectively split water for hydrogen generation under visible light.