2D/2D Heterojunction of TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanoparticles and Ultrathin G-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> Nanosheets for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution
Ruifeng Du,
Baoying Li,
Xu Han,
Ke Xiao,
Xiang Wang,
Chaoqi Zhang,
Jordi Arbiol,
Andreu Cabot
Affiliations
Ruifeng Du
Catalonia Energy Research Institute—IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
Baoying Li
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan 250353, China
Xu Han
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
Ke Xiao
Catalonia Energy Research Institute—IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
Xiang Wang
Catalonia Energy Research Institute—IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
Chaoqi Zhang
Catalonia Energy Research Institute—IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
Jordi Arbiol
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
Andreu Cabot
Catalonia Energy Research Institute—IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is considered one of the promising routes to solve the energy and environmental crises. However, developing efficient and low-cost photocatalysts remains an unsolved challenge. In this work, ultrathin 2D g-C3N4 nanosheets are coupled with flat TiO2 nanoparticles as face-to-face 2D/2D heterojunction photocatalysts through a simple electrostatic self-assembly method. Compared with g-C3N4 and pure TiO2 nanosheets, 2D/2D TiO2/g-C3N4 heterojunctions exhibit effective charge separation and transport properties that translate into outstanding photocatalytic performances. With the optimized heterostructure composition, stable hydrogen evolution activities are threefold and fourfold higher than those of pure TiO2, and g-C3N4 are consistently obtained. Benefiting from the favorable 2D/2D heterojunction structure, the TiO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst yields H2 evolution rates up to 3875 μmol·g−1·h−1 with an AQE of 7.16% at 380 nm.
