Photocatalytic whole H2O splitting using Bi0-decorated g-C3N4/SrTiO3 sheet-like catalyst under simulated sunlight
Journal
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Journal Volume
130
Start Page
390
End Page
401
ISSN
0360-3199
Date Issued
2025-05-21
Author(s)
Abstract
The production of hydrogen via photocatalytic water splitting presents considerable opportunities for promoting the advancement of renewable energy. We synthesized sheet-liked nanoparticles of g-C3N4/SrTiO3 composite exhibited a type II heterojunction for hydrogen production from photocatalytic water splitting reaction. To address the limitation of light absorptivity and enhance the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate, noble metals are widely used as cocatalysts even though they are overpriced. Replacing noble metals with earth-abundant metals is indispensable for solar hydrogen's affordable price and up-scale ability. We introduced metallic bismuth decorated in g-C3N4/SrTiO3 type II heterojunction by in-situ photoreduction. Under light irradiation, Bi3+ was reduced to Bi0 by photogenerated electrons, allowing it to act as a non-noble metal cocatalyst for hydrogen production from photocatalytic whole water splitting under simulated sunlight for the first time. At the optimal amount of bismuth-added (1 mol%), g-C3N4/SrTiO3-based photocatalyst had the most remarkable hydrogen evolution rate, approximately 1800 μmol/g after 5 h under simulated sunlight AM 1.5G, 46-fold higher than the composite catalyst without Bi-decorated. The photocatalytic hydrogen production from deionized water was also conducted, which achieved a noteworthy value of 138.7 μmol/g after 5 h under simulated sunlight. The stability test indicated that 1 %Bi/g-C3N4/SrTiO3 could maintain its photocatalytic ability well after four cycles.
Subjects
G-C3N4
Hydrogen
Metallic bismuth
Photocatalysis
Simulated sunlight
SrTiO3
SDGs
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article