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Title: Supported black phosphorus nanosheets as hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst achieving 5.4% energy conversion efficiency at 353 K

Abstract

Solar-driven water splitting using powdered catalysts is considered as the most economical means for hydrogen generation. However, four-electron-driven oxidation half-reaction showing slow kinetics, accompanying with insufficient light absorption and rapid carrier combination in photocatalysts leads to low solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency. Here, we report amorphous cobalt phosphide (Co-P)-supported black phosphorus nanosheets employed as photocatalysts can simultaneously address these issues. The nanosheets exhibit robust hydrogen evolution from pure water (pH = 6.8) without bias and hole scavengers, achieving an apparent quantum efficiency of 42.55% at 430 nm and energy conversion efficiency of over 5.4% at 353 K. This photocatalytic activity is attributed to extremely efficient utilization of solar energy (~75% of solar energy) by black phosphorus nanosheets and high-carrier separation efficiency by amorphous Co-P. The hybrid material design realizes efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversion in suspension, demonstrating the potential of black phosphorus-based materials as catalysts for solar hydrogen production.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [1]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Taiyuan Univ. of Technology, Taiyuan (China). Key Lab. of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control System of Ministry of Education, College of Physics and Optoelectronics
  2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry
  3. Dalian Nationalities Univ., Dalian (China). College of Life science
  4. Taiyuan Univ. of Technology, Taiyuan (China). Key Lab. of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control System of Ministry of Education, College of Physics and Optoelectronics; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1493270
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Citation Formats

Tian, Bin, Tian, Bining, Smith, Bethany, Scott, M. C., Hua, Ruinian, Lei, Qin, and Tian, Yue. Supported black phosphorus nanosheets as hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst achieving 5.4% energy conversion efficiency at 353 K. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03737-4.
Tian, Bin, Tian, Bining, Smith, Bethany, Scott, M. C., Hua, Ruinian, Lei, Qin, & Tian, Yue. Supported black phosphorus nanosheets as hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst achieving 5.4% energy conversion efficiency at 353 K. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03737-4
Tian, Bin, Tian, Bining, Smith, Bethany, Scott, M. C., Hua, Ruinian, Lei, Qin, and Tian, Yue. Wed . "Supported black phosphorus nanosheets as hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst achieving 5.4% energy conversion efficiency at 353 K". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03737-4. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1493270.
@article{osti_1493270,
title = {Supported black phosphorus nanosheets as hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst achieving 5.4% energy conversion efficiency at 353 K},
author = {Tian, Bin and Tian, Bining and Smith, Bethany and Scott, M. C. and Hua, Ruinian and Lei, Qin and Tian, Yue},
abstractNote = {Solar-driven water splitting using powdered catalysts is considered as the most economical means for hydrogen generation. However, four-electron-driven oxidation half-reaction showing slow kinetics, accompanying with insufficient light absorption and rapid carrier combination in photocatalysts leads to low solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency. Here, we report amorphous cobalt phosphide (Co-P)-supported black phosphorus nanosheets employed as photocatalysts can simultaneously address these issues. The nanosheets exhibit robust hydrogen evolution from pure water (pH = 6.8) without bias and hole scavengers, achieving an apparent quantum efficiency of 42.55% at 430 nm and energy conversion efficiency of over 5.4% at 353 K. This photocatalytic activity is attributed to extremely efficient utilization of solar energy (~75% of solar energy) by black phosphorus nanosheets and high-carrier separation efficiency by amorphous Co-P. The hybrid material design realizes efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversion in suspension, demonstrating the potential of black phosphorus-based materials as catalysts for solar hydrogen production.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-03737-4},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {4}
}

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Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1 Fig. 1: Spectroscopic characterizations of the as-prepared BP-based samples. a The formation process of the Co-P/BP nanosheets: (1) phase transition processes, (2) supporting process via the reaction between the formed BP nanosheets and Co(NO3)2. The reaction was run in ethylenediamine, followed by heating at 140 °C for 12 h, respectively.more » b XRD patterns of the BP (red line) and Co-P/BP (navy line) samples. c Raman spectra of the pristine BP and Co-P/BP samples. The excitation wavelength is 633 nm. d, e XPS fine spectra of P 2p and Co 2p states in the samples. The C 1s (284.8 eV) is the charged correction benchmark« less

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