Synergistic promotion of nitrogen vacancies and single atomic dopants on Pt/C3N4 for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution
Ai-Ping Yan,
Yu-Jue Qiu,
Xing-En Wang,
Guang-Hua Wang,
Xian-Kui Wei,
Xin-Tian Li,
Xiao-Die Chen,
Xing Shang,
Shun-Liu Deng,
Jian-Wei Zheng,
Su-Yuan Xie
Affiliations
Ai-Ping Yan
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Yu-Jue Qiu
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Xing-En Wang
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Guang-Hua Wang
Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen 361005, China
Xian-Kui Wei
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China; Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen 361005, China
Xin-Tian Li
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Xiao-Die Chen
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Xing Shang
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Shun-Liu Deng
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China; Corresponding author
Jian-Wei Zheng
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China; Corresponding author
Su-Yuan Xie
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Summary: C3N4 is widely applied in the synthesis of single-atom catalysts. However, understanding on the active site and the reaction mechanism is not fully in consensus. Especially, bare studies have considered the coordination environment of the single-atomic dopant and the effect of nitrogen vacancy on C3N4. In this study, we found that the presence of nitrogen vacancies promotes the activation of water and reduces the activation energy barrier for hydrogen generation. The results show that a synergistic effect between single-atom Pt and nitrogen vacancies enables the catalyst to achieve a superior hydrogen production rate of 3,890 μmol/g/h, which is 16.8 times higher than that of pristine C3N4. Moreover, the catalyst is also applicable for photocatalytic hydrogen production from seawater without significantly decreased hydrogen production rate. This study paves the way for the rational design and optimization of next-generation photocatalysts for sustainable energy applications, particularly in solar-driven hydrogen production.
