2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and Graphene-Based Ternary Composites for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and Pollutants Degradation

Ying Chen; Hongqi Sun; Wenchao Peng

doi:10.3390/nano7030062

2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and Graphene-Based Ternary Composites for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and Pollutants Degradation

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2017 Mar 15;7(3):62. doi: 10.3390/nano7030062.

Authors

Ying Chen^{1

2}, Hongqi Sun³, Wenchao Peng⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. yingchen@tju.edu.cn.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Renai College of Tianjin University, Tianjin 301636, China. yingchen@tju.edu.cn.
³ School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Perth, WA 6027, Australia. h.sun@ecu.edu.au.
⁴ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. wenchao.peng@tju.edu.cn.

Abstract

Photocatalysis have attracted great attention due to their useful applications for sustainable hydrogen evolution and pollutants degradation. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as MoS₂ and WS₂ have exhibited great potential as cocatalysts to increase the photo-activity of some semiconductors. By combination with graphene (GR), enhanced cocatalysts of TMD/GR hybrids could be synthesized. GR here can act as a conductive electron channel for the transport of the photogenerated electrons, while the TMDs nanosheets in the hybrids can collect electrons and act as active sites for photocatalytic reactions. This mini review will focus on the application of TMD/GR hybrids as cocatalysts for semiconductors in photocatalytic reactions, by which we hope to provide enriched information of TMD/GR as a platform to develop more efficient photocatalysts for solar energy utilization.

Keywords: graphene; hydrogen evolution; photocatalytic; pollutants degradation; transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs).

Publication types

Review