Performance of Ni-Cu bimetallic co-catalyst g-C3N4 nanosheets for improving hydrogen evolution

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2020.02.025

Abstract

Abstract:

The Ni-Cu bimetallic nanoparticles were successfully anchorred on the surface of g-C₃N₄ nanosheets by a simple heat treatment process which was applied to the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. In-situ introduction of Ni-Cu could significantly improve the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance compared with pure g-C₃N₄ in the system sensitized by eosin Y under a visible irradiation condition. The hydrogen production activity of the composite reached 104.4 μmol (2088.28 μmol g^-1 h^-1) after using the Ni—Cu double promoter strategy, which was 24.3 times higher than g-C₃N₄. The excellent electrical conductivity of the bimetallic Ni-Cu and the close interfacial contact between Ni—Cu and g-C₃N₄ played an important role for increasing the charge transfer rate. They were also the reasons of more efficient charge separation, which ultimately led to a significant promotion on the photocatalytic hydrogen production reaction. Ni-Cu/g-C₃N₄ coupling with a close Schottky interface between metal and semiconductor which enhanced H₂-evolution performance and TEOA oxidation kinetics. This work provided a new way to load Ni—Cu bimetallic nanoparticles in situ onto g-C₃N₄ and a reference on relative semiconductor materials.

Key words: Bimetallic, Ni-Cu, g-C₃N₄, Charge separation, Hydrogen evolution

Zhiliang Jin, Lijun Zhang. Performance of Ni-Cu bimetallic co-catalyst g-C₃N₄ nanosheets for improving hydrogen evolution[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 49: 144-156.

Figures/Tables 15

Fig. 1. Synthesis procedure for Ni-Cu/g-C3N4.

Fig. 2. XRD patterns (a, b, c) and FT-IR (d) of bare g-C3N4 (CN), CNN-n (n = 5, 10, 15, 20), CNC and CNNC-x (x = 5, 10, 15, 20) samples.

Fig. 3. XPS analysis of CNNC-15 composite: (a) XPS survey spectrum of CNNC-15 and pure g-C3N4; High-resolution XPS spectrum of C 1s (b), N 1s (c), O 1s (d), Ni 2p (e) and Cu 2p (f) that belongs to CNNC-15 and pure g-C3N4, respectively.

Fig. 4. SEM pictures of g-C3N4 (a), CNC (b), CNN-15 (c) and CNNC-15 (d).

Fig. 5. TEM image of g-C3N4 (a), CNC (b), CNN-15 (c) and CNNC-15 (d); HRTEM images of CNNC-15(e). EDX of CNNC-15 (f).

Table 1 SBET, pore volume and average pore size comparisons results for different catalysts.

Samples	S_BET (m²/g)	Pore volume (cm³/g)	Average pore size (nm)
g-C3N4	5	0.025	21
CNC	40	0.002	18
CNN-15	42	0.219	19
CNNC-15	51	0.233	19

Fig. 6. N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms and corresponding pore-size distribution curves (inset) of the CN (a), CNC (b), CNN-15 (c) and CNNC-15 (d) samples.

Fig. 7. TG curves (a) and DTG curves (b) of CN, CNC, CNN-15, and CNNC-15.

Fig. 8. Comparison of different catalyst H2 production activity of CN, CNC, CNN-15, and CNNC-15 (a). Comparison of hydrogen production performance of composite with different nickel content (b) and copper content (c). Effect of different pH triethanolamine aqueous to the photocatalytic property of CNNC-15 (d). Stability testing of CNNC-15 composite in this system (e). Apparent quantum efficiency (QE) of the CNNC-15 (f).

Table 2 Comparison of photocatalytic activity.

Photocatalyst	Co-catalyst	Light source	Sacrificial reagent	Activity (μmol/ (h g))	Ref.
g-C₃N₄	Ni-Cu	5 W LED (≥ 420 nm)	15 vol.% TEOA	2088.28	This work
g-C₃N₄	S-Ni	300 W Xe-lamp (> 420 nm)	20 vol.% TEOA	2021.3	[12]
g-C₃N₄	Pt-Pd	300 W Xe-lamp (≥ 400 nm)	10 vol.% TEOA	1600.8	[28]
g-C₃N₄	NiS	350 W Xe-lamp, (≥ 420 nm)	15 vol.% TEOA	593.6	[35]
g-C₃N₄	Pt-C	350 W Xe-lamp, (≥ 420 nm)	15 vol.% TEOA	212.8	[52]
g-C₃N₄	C	Xe-lamp, (> 420 nm)	15 vol.% TEOA	410.1	[55]
g-C₃N₄	MoP	300 W Xe-lamp (> 400 nm)	10 vol.% TEOA	327.5	[65]

Fig. 9. i-t curve (a), LSV curve (b) and Nyquist curve (c) curve for CN, CNC, CNN-15, and CNNC-15 photocomposites.

Fig. 10. UV-vis absorption spectra of CN, CNC, CNN-15, and CNNC-15 photocomposites.

Fig. 11. PL spectra of CN, CNC, CNN-15, and CNNC-15 (a) and transient fluorescence spectra (b).

Table 3 Attenuation parameters o photocatalyst.

Samples	Pre-exponential factors, A	Lifetime, <τ> (ns)	Average lifetime, <τ> (ns)	k_et (s^-1)	χ²
EY	A = 100	τ=0.1979	0.1979	---	1.07
EY-CN	A₁ = 36.61 A₂ = 33.00 A₃ = 30.39	τ₁₌8.357 τ₂ = 1.660 τ₃=96.99	4.0702	5.920 × 10⁸	1.02
EY-CNC	A₁ = 35.79 A₂ = 31.39 A₃ = 32.39	τ₁₌8.274 τ₂ = 99.52 τ₃ = 1.498	3.7674	6.575 × 10⁸	1.09
EY-CNN-15	A₁ = 36.20 A₂ = 26.43 A₃ = 37.37	τ₁₌8.469 τ₂ = 91.23 τ₃ = 1.664	3.7009	5.900 × 10⁸	1.08
EY-CNNC-15	A₁ = 41.98 A₂ = 26.68 A₃ = 31.35	τ₁₌5.519 τ₂ = 1.061 τ₃=48.44	2.9948	9.218 × 10⁸	1.09

Fig. 12. Possible photocatalytic hydrogen evolution mechanism of CNNC-15 under visible light radiation.

References 66

[1]	W.L. Yu, J.X. Chen, T.T. Shang, L.F. Chen, L. Gu, T.Y. Peng, Appl. Catal. B 219 (2017) 693-704.
[2]	K. Fan, Z.L. Jin, G.R. Wang, H. Yang, D.D. Liu, H.Y. Hu, G.X. Lu, Y.P. Bi, Catal. Sci. Technol. 8 (2018) 2352-2363.
[3]	L.J. Zhang, X.Q. Hao, Q.Y. Jian, Z.L. Jin, J. Solid State Chem. 274 (2019) 286-294.
[4]	A.Y. Meng, L.Y. Zhang, B. Cheng, J.G. Yu, Adv. Mater. 31 (2019), 1807660.
[5]	L.J. Zhang, Z.L. Jin, X.L. Ma, Y.P. Zhang, H.Y. Wang, New J. Chem. 43 (2019) 3609-3618.
[6]	G.X. Zhao, G.G. Liu, H. Pang, H.M. Liu, H.B. Zhang, K. Chang, X.U. Meng, X.J. Wang, J.H. Ye, Small 12 (2016) 6160-6166. URL PMID
[7]	A. Kudo, M. Sekizawa, Chem. Commun. (2000) 1371-1372.
[8]	G. Swain, S. Sultana, K. Parida, Inorg. Chem. 58 (2019) 9941-9955. DOI URL PMID
[9]	L.J. Zhang, G.R. Wang, Z.L. Jin, New J. Chem. 43 (2019) 6411-6421.
[10]	Z.J. Wang, Z.L. Jin, H. Yuan, G.R. Wang, B.Z. Ma, J. Colloid, Interf. Sci. 532 (2018) 287-299.
[11]	D.D. Liu, Z.L. Jin, H.X. Li, G.X. Lu, Appl. Surf. Sci. 423 (2017) 255-265.
[12]	C.Z. Sun, H. Zhang, H. Liu, X.X. Zheng, W.X. Zou, L. Dong, L. Qi, Appl. Catal. B 235 (2018) 66-74. DOI URL
[13]	X.X. Zou, R. Silva, A. Goswami, T. Asefa, Appl. Surf. Sci. 357 (2015) 221-228.
[14]	J.X. Xu, Y.H. Qi, L. Wang, Appl. Catal. B 246 (2019) 72-81. DOI URL
[15]	G.F. Liao, Y. Gong, L. Zhang, H.Y. Gao, G.J. Yang, B.Z. Fang, Energy Environ. Sci. 12 (2019) 2080-2147. DOI URL
[16]	L.J. Zhang, Z.L. Jin, Y.B. Li, X.Q. Hao, F.L. Han, Catal. Lett. 149 (2019) 2397-2407.
[17]	J.W. Huang, Y. Zhang, Y. Ding, ACS Catal. 7 (2017) 1841-1845.
[18]	X.Y. Qu, S.Z. Hu, J. Bai, P. Li, G. Lu, X.X. Kang, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 34 (2018) 1932-1938.
[19]	M. Jourshabani, Z. Shariatinia, A. Badiei, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 34 (2018) 1511-1525.
[20]	W.B. Li, C. Feng, S.Y. Dai, J.G. Yue, F.X. Hua, H. Hou, Appl. Catal. B 168-169 (2015) 465-471.
[21]	Y. Fu, T. Huang, L. Zhang, J. Zhu, X. Wang, Nanoscale 7 (2015) 13723-13733. DOI URL PMID
[22]	J. Jin, Q. Liang, C.Y. Ding, Z.Y. Li, S. Xu, J. Alloys. Compd. 691 (2017) 763-771.
[23]	Y. Shiraishi, Y. Kofuji, S. Kanazawa, H. Sakamoto, S. Ichikawa, S. Tanaka, T. Hirai, Chem. Commun. 50 (2014) 15255-15258.
[24]	K.H. Sun, J. Shen, Q.Q. Liu, H. Tang, M.Y. Zhang, S. Zulfiqar, C.S. Lei, Chin. J. Catal. 41 (2020) 72-81.
[25]	Y. Li, Y.T. Gong, X. Xu, P.F. Zhang, H.R. Li, Y. Wang, Catal. Commun. 28 (2012) 9-12.
[26]	Y.X. Li, H. Li, Y.F. Li, S.Q. Peng, Y.H. Hu, Chem. Eng. J. 344 (2018) 506-513.
[27]	X.F. Song, H. Tao, L.X. Chen, Y. Sun, Mater. Lett. 116 (2014) 265-267.
[28]	N. Xiao, S.S. Li, S. Liu, B.R. Xu, Y.D. Li, Y.Q. Gao, L. Ge, G.W. Lu, Chin. J. Catal. 40 (2019) 352-361. DOI URL
[29]	H.H. Ou, P.J. Yang, L.H. Lin, M. Anpo, X.C. Wang, Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 56 (2017) 10905-10910. DOI URL
[30]	J.W. Fu, Q.L. Xu, J.X. Low, C.J. Jiang, J.G. Yu, Appl. Catal. B 243 (2019) 556-565. DOI URL
[31]	E.X. Han, Y.Y. Li, Q.H. Wang, W.Q. Huang, L. Luo, W.Y. Hu, G.F. Huang, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 35 (2019) 2288-2296.
[32]	L.J. Zhang, X.Q. Hao, J.K. Li, Y.P. Wang, Z.L. Jin, Chin. J. Catal. 41 (2020) 82-94.
[33]	X. Yan, Z.L. Jin, Y.P. Zhang, H. Liu, X.L. Ma, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 21 (2019) 4501-4512. URL PMID
[34]	H.G. Yu, P. Xiao, P. Wang, J.G. Yu, Appl. Catal. B 193 (2016) 217-225. DOI URL
[35]	K.L. He, J. Xie, M.L. Li, X. Li, Appl. Surf. Sci. 430 (2018) 208-217.
[36]	S.M. Lyth, Y. Nabae, S. Moriya, S. Kuroki, M.A. Kakimoto, J.I. Ozaki, S. Miyata, J. Phys. Chem. C 113 (2009) 20148-20151.
[37]	X.X. Zou, R.F. Silva, A. Goswami, T. Asefa, Appl. Surf. Sci. 357 (2015) 221-228.
[38]	X.Q. Hao Z.L. jin, S.X. Mina, G.X. Lu, RSC Adv. 6 (2016) 23709-23717.
[39]	Z. Li, C. Kong, G.X. Lu, J. Phys. Chem. C 120 (2016) 56-63.
[40]	V.N. Khabashesku, J.L. Zimmerman, J.L. Margrave, Chem. Mater. 12 (2000) 3264-3270.
[41]	Q.X. Guo, Xie Y, X.J. Wang, S.Y. Zhang, Hou T, S.H. Lv, Chem. Commun. 1 (2004) 26-27.
[42]	Z.G. Chai, T.T. Zeng, Q. Li, L.Q. Lu, W.J. Xiao, D.S. Xu, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138 (2016) 10128-10131. DOI URL PMID
[43]	L.J. Zhang, Z.L. Jin, Catal. Surv. Asia 23 (2019) 219-230.
[44]	L.J. Zhang, Y.X. Wang, Z.N. Liu, Z.X. Yan, L.H. Zhu, Int. J. Electrochem. Sci. 13 (2018) 2164-2174.
[45]	T. Ghodselahi, M.A. Vesaghi, A. Shafiekhani, A. Baghizadeh, M. Lameii, Appl. Surf. Sci. 255 (2008) 2730-2734.
[46]	C. Zhu, A. Osherov, M.J. Panzer, Electrochim. Acta 111 (2013) 771-778.
[47]	Y. Hou, Z. Wen, S. Cui, X. Guo, J. Chen, Adv. Mater. 25 (2013) 6291-6297. URL PMID
[48]	M.J. Liu, P.F. Xia, L.Y. Zhang, B. Cheng, J.G. Yu, Eng. 6 (2018) 10472-10480.
[49]	X. Li, J.G. Yu, M. Jaroniec, Chem. Soc. Rev. 45 (2016) 2603-2636. URL PMID
[50]	C.C. Feng, Z.H. Wang, Y. Ma, Y.J. Zhang, L. Wang, Y.P. Bi, Appl. Catal. B 205 (2017) 19-23.
[51]	J.X. Low, B. Cheng, J.G. Yu, M. Jaroniec, Energy Storage Mater. 3 (2016) 24-35.
[52]	Q.L. Xu, B. Cheng, J.G. Yu, G. Liu, Carbon 118 (2017) 241-249.
[53]	S.W. Cao, J.X. Low, J.G. Yu, M. Jaroniec, Adv. Mater. 27 (2015) 2150-2176. DOI URL PMID
[54]	Q. Yan, G.F. Huang, D.F. Li, M. Zhang, A.L. Pan, W.Q. Huang, J. Mater, Sci. Technol. 34 (2018) 2515-2520.
[55]	Q.L. Xu, C.J. Jiang, B. Cheng, J.G. Yu, Dalton Trans. 46 (2017) 10611-10619. URL PMID
[56]	R. Venu, T.S. Ramulu, S. Anandakumar, V.S. Rani, C.G. Kim, Colloid Surface A 384 (2011) 733-738.
[57]	Y.B. Li, Z.L. Jin, L.J. Zhang, K. Fan, Chinese. J. Catal. 40 (2019) 390-402.
[58]	X.C. Wang, S. Blechert, M. Antonietti, ACS Catal. 2 (2012) 1596-1606. DOI URL
[59]	Y.W. Zhang, J.J. Liu, G. Wu, W. Chen, Nanoscale 4 (2012) 5300-5303. DOI URL PMID
[60]	F. Dong, Z.W. Zhao, T. Xiong, Z.L. Ni, W.D. Zhang, Y.J. Sun, W.K. Ho, ACS Appl. Mater. Interf. 5 (2013) 11392-11401.
[61]	L.J. Zhang, X.Q. Hao, Y.B. Li, Z.L. Jin, Appl. Surf. Sci. 499 (2020), 143862.
[62]	H.Y. Wang, Z.L. jin, Sustain Energy Fuels 3 (2019) 173-183.
[63]	Y.J. Ren, D.Q. Zeng, W.J. Ong, Chin. J. Catal. 40 (2019) 289-316.
[64]	Q.L. Xu, B.C. Zhu, B. Cheng, J.G. Yu, M.H. Zhou, W.K. Ho, Appl. Catal. B 255 (2019), 117770.
[65]	W. Liu, J. Shen, Q.Q. Liu, X.F. Yang, H. Tang, Appl. Surf. Sci. 462 (2018) 822-830.
[66]	D.D. Ren, R.C. Shen, Z.M. Jiang, X.Y. Lu, X. Li, Chin. J. Catal 41 (41) (2020) 31-40.

Performance of Ni-Cu bimetallic co-catalyst g-C₃N₄ nanosheets for improving hydrogen evolution

RichHTML

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

Figures/Tables 15

References 66

Related Articles 15

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments

[1]	Mengmeng Zhang, Jiajun Wang, Yang Wang, Jinfeng Zhang, Xiaopeng Han, Yanan Chen, Yuesheng Wang, Zaghib Karim, Wenbin Hu, Yida Deng. Promoting the charge separation and photoelectrocatalytic water reduction kinetics of Cu₂O nanowires via decorating dual-cocatalysts [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 62(0): 119-127.
[2]	Man Zhang, Di Hu, Zhenhao Xu, Biying Liu, Mebrouka Boubeche, Zuo Chen, Yuchen Wang, Huixia Luo, Kai Yan. Facile synthesis of Ni-, Co-, Cu-metal organic frameworks electrocatalyst boosting for hydrogen evolution reaction [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 72(0): 172-179.
[3]	Jing Wang, Li You, Zhibin Li, Xiongjun Liu, Rui Li, Qing Du, Xianzhen Wang, Hui Wang, Yuan Wu, Suihe Jiang, Zhaoping Lu. Self-supporting nanoporous Ni/metallic glass composites with hierarchically porous structure for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 73(0): 145-150.
[4]	Bin Wang, Yuanfu Chen, Qi Wu, Yingjiong Lu, Xiaojuan Zhang, Xinqiang Wang, Bo Yu, DongXu Yang, Wanli Zhang. A co-coordination strategy to realize janus-type bimetallic phosphide as highly efficient and durable bifunctional catalyst for water splitting [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 74(0): 11-20.
[5]	Shumin Zhang, Hu Dong, Changsheng An, Zhongfu Li, Difa Xu, Kaiqiang Xu, Zhaohui Wu, Jie Shen, Xiaohua Chen, Shiying Zhang. One-pot synthesis of array-like sulfur-doped carbon nitride with covalently crosslinked ultrathin MoS₂ cocatalyst for drastically enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 75(0): 59-67.
[6]	Xiangtao Yu, Xiangyu Ren, Yanwei Zhang, Zhangfu Yuan, Zhuyin Sui, Mingyong Wang. Self-supporting hierarchically micro/nano-porous Ni₃P-Co₂P-based film with high hydrophilicity for efficient hydrogen production [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 65(0): 118-125.
[7]	Miao-Miao Fang, Jun-Xia Shao, Xiang-Gang Huang, Jin-Yi Wang, Wei Chen. Direct Z-scheme CdFe₂O₄/g-C₃N₄ hybrid photocatalysts for highly efficient ceftiofur sodium photodegradation [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 56(0): 133-142.
[8]	Seung Man Lim, Kyunglee Kang, Hongje Jang, Jung Tae Park. Environmental friendly synthesis of hierarchical mesoporous platinum nanoparticles templated by fucoidan biopolymer for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 46(0): 185-190.
[9]	Jieqiong Wang, Zheng Liu, Changhong Zhan, Kexi Zhang, Xiaoyong Lai, Jinchun Tu, Yang Cao. 3D hierarchical NiS₂/MoS₂ nanostructures on CFP with enhanced electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 39(0): 155-160.
[10]	Jufeng Huang, Guang-Ling Song, Andrej Atrens, Matthew Dargusch. What activates the Mg surface—A comparison of Mg dissolution mechanisms [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 57(0): 204-220.
[11]	Minghui Xiong, Juntao Yan, Bo Chai, Guozhi Fan, Guangsen Song. Liquid exfoliating CdS and MoS₂ to construct 2D/2D MoS₂/CdS heterojunctions with significantly boosted photocatalytic H₂ evolution activity [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 56(0): 179-188.
[12]	Zheng Liu, Jieqiong Wang, Changhong Zhan, Jing Yu, Yang Cao, Jinchun Tu, Changsheng Shi. Phosphide-oxide honeycomb-like heterostructure CoP@CoMoO₄/CC for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline solution [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 46(0): 177-184.
[13]	Vellaichamy Balakumar, Hyungjoo Kim, Ji Won Ryu, Ramalingam Manivannan, Young-A Son. Uniform assembly of gold nanoparticles on S-doped g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite for effective conversion of 4-nitrophenol by catalytic reduction [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 40(0): 176-184.
[14]	Jing Xu, Zhouping Wang, Yongfa Zhu. Highly efficient visible photocatalytic disinfection and degradation performances of microtubular nanoporous g-C₃N₄ via hierarchical construction and defects engineering [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 49(0): 133-143.
[15]	Bintao Wu, Zhijun Qiu, Zengxi Pan, Kristin Carpenter, Tong Wang, Donghong Ding, Stephen Van Duin, Huijun Li. Enhanced interface strength in steel-nickel bimetallic component fabricated using wire arc additive manufacturing with interweaving deposition strategy [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 52(0): 226-234.