Exploration of photocatalytic seawater splitting on Pt/GaP-C3N4 under simulated sunlight
Journal
Applied Surface Science
Journal Volume
572
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Abstract
Solar-driven photocatalytic seawater splitting for hydrogen is a promising process because of unlimited solar energy and seawater available. A novel Pt/GaP-C3N4 (PGC) heterogeneous photocatalyst was fabricated and used for photocatalytic artificial and natural seawater splitting under simulated sunlight illumination. The hybrid heterojunction structure of GaP-C3N4 promotes a Z-schematic electron migration and depresses the recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs in PGC photocatalyst. Under 4-hour simulated sunlight irradiation, the optimum composite 0.3PGC50 (0.3 wt% Pt-loaded and 50 wt% GaP-composited) exhibited high photoactivity performance with the hydrogen/oxygen evolution rate (HER/OER) of 46.5/23.4 ?mol g?1 in deionized water, 65.5/34.3 ?mol g?1 in the artificial seawater, and 53.9/24.9 ?mol g?1 in the natural seawater splitting process. The apparent quantum yield of artificial seawater is near two times higher than that of pure water. The molar ratio of H2:O2 was near 2:1 matched whole water splitting, and the H2 yields were moderately decreased after 3 consecutive runs. ? 2021 Elsevier B.V.
Subjects
Carbon nitride
Gallium phosphide
Photocatalytic seawater splitting
Sunlight irradiation
Z-scheme photocatalyst
III-V semiconductors
Irradiation
Molar ratio
Photocatalytic activity
Seawater
Solar energy
Solar power generation
Artificial seawater
Electron migration
Heterogeneous photocatalysts
Heterojunction structures
Photo-catalytic
Simulated sunlight
Splittings
Heterojunctions
Type
journal article